Better Luck Next Time
by ScorplinginTraining
Summary: What if you'd blown every chance you had to be with the one person you could ever love? To what lengths would you go to fix your mistakes? An AU second-chance Waige story.
1. Perfect Timing

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: I'm not sure how this story will be received. Without giving too much away, I'll call this an AU 'second chance' fic. I want to say a special thank-you to lookingforthestars who reminded me why we actually write stories and encouraged me to try this idea out. Reviews are addictive to us fragile writers and let us know you're interested in more.**

oxoxoxoxoxoxo

They both had impeccable timing.

Her children must've developed a built-in radar system when they'd moved out. Or else they'd installed cameras which was a disturbing notion she wouldn't necessarily put past either of them.

Because it never failed. Her grown kids always managed to call when she was just about to step into the shower. Her husband used to tell her to leave her cell in the other room or turn it off, but the mother in her could never bear to be out of reach. What if there was an emergency? What if they needed her?

Paige picked her phone up off the counter and checked the caller ID even though the ringtone already told her who it was. Sure enough, it was Avery.

Sighing, she shut the water off and plopped down naked on the closed lid of the toilet. She shivered a little as the steam began to dissipate.

"Hey, Sweetie!" Paige answered in a bright, warm voice hoping it didn't echo off the tiles too obviously, "How was your first day of graduate school?" Watching the mist slowly recede from the full length mirror across the room, it suddenly occurred to her she didn't really want to see her unclad reflection. She stood and pulled her bathrobe off the hook on back of the door. It wasn't that she was bad looking for a fifty-four year old woman. She kept in shape, but some of her curves sagged a bit southward now and stretch marks bisected the cesarean scar on her once taut belly. She sometimes missed her thirty year old physique. She still _felt_ the same and she wasn't in the mood to see proof she wasn't.

Shouldering the phone while she shrugged on the garment and wandered into the master bedroom, she perched on the edge of the bed waiting for her daughter to reply.

"It sucked," Avery grumbled, "Hard."

"Uh, oh. What happened?" Instantly concern replaced the mild irritation caused by the interruption of her nightly routine. Her twenty year old daughter was usually upbeat and positive. That didn't stop her from occasionally being a little on the dramatic side, however.

"Ralph is a dead man the next time I see him. You may want to warn him to change his name and leave town or something."

Paige chuckled at that. Ralph was Avery's favorite person in the whole world. Often to his extreme annoyance. When she was little, she'd followed him everywhere he went like his personal version of an imprinted duckling.

"I mean it, Mom. He's number one on my hit list today. He's the one that insisted I go to his lame ass alma mater!"

"Language, Honey," she responded automatically before coaxing, "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me about it?" Paige crossed her legs at the knee, her tatty, terry robe parting and sliding off to each side of her lap. She picked at the pills in the nap of the fabric left over from countless washings while her daughter drew breath to explain. From the tone of this conversation, she knew it was going to be a while before she could get back to her shower.

"Ugh. To start with, my faculty advisor essentially told me my idea for a thesis wouldn't fly. I worked on that fuc… Sorry. _Stupid_ concept all summer long! I have _no_ idea what to write about now. And she was no help, like, _at all_! Then, because my application was pulled off the waiting list and accepted late, I didn't get all the classes or professors I wanted either. I got stuck in one class where I'm pretty sure the prof is certifiably insane. As in a total head case. Guess which one?! That's right. _Abnormal_ Psychology. I think they pulled in a guy with practical, in-the-field experience if you know what I mean. I have another one I didn't understand half of what she said. It made absolutely no sense. What so ever. It was like trying to audit a class in India and not knowing a word of Sanskrit."

"Look on the bright side, if that professor is certifiable, maybe he could be the subject of your new thesis? Like a case study?" Paige's mouth quirked up at one corner.

"Hilarious, Mom. Yep. I'm dying here and you gotta make jokes."

"Sorry. But it couldn't be _all_ bad, could it? There has to be something that went right today? What about your internship? How did it go?"

Silence.

"Avery?"

"I have no words for that guy. Okay, maybe one word. A freakin' waking nightmare. Well, three words, I guess. If we're gonna be strictly technical. Which he is. Total robot. One of these days I'm going to walk in and find him plugged into the wall charging his battery, I swear. That's if I can force myself to go back tomorrow. You should have heard him, Mom! I was a little late, right? Like two maybe three minutes, max…"

Paige rolled her eyes because her baby girl could easily get totally absorbed in some activity or other and lose a whole night's sleep. When Avery got wrapped up, she had no concept of time. In the interest of peace, she kept her response to a non-committal hum. She knew at this particular moment her daughter needed an ear to rant in more than she needed yet another lecture on how everyone else's time was as important as hers.

"His lab is all the way the… _heck_ across campus from my other classes. So I had to sprint anyway. Another compelling reason I seriously _need_ a Segway for Christmas, bee tee dubs. If I survive til Winter Break, that is. I couldn't find where to go for the longest. I think it's unplottable like Hogwarts or something. I asked a few students and none of them knew. I finally found a campus cop and when I asked where it's located, he looked at me like I'd asked where Voldemort and the Death Eaters hang out. He literally asked me why I'd want to find that particular lab. Then he mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'arrogant bastard'. His words, not mine. But he was _SO_ right, Mom. I got there and my 'boss', and when I say boss, I really mean _master_ like I'm Igor or something. His Highness didn't greet me or anything. He led with, 'You're late' and ended with 'Start cleaning up over there'. That was the sum total of our entire conversation. Except when he got impatient with me for moving a stack of scribbled-on paper stressing how someone average like me can't understand the importance of his almighty project. Oh and when he informed me that psychology isn't actual science. Jerk. I don't care how high his IQ is or how many honorary doctorates he holds. And you should see this guy, Mom. Wrinkled clothes looking like he's slept in them. For a couple of months at least. Wild, curly hair busting out all over his head. Identical to every picture of a mad scientist you've ever seen. His lab is disgusting and apparently I'm not helping with research _at all_. I'm just the maid. Uh, gross. Moldy, wrinkled apple cores and half filled coffee mugs with an inch of scum on top. I swear I had to sandblast a few of them out. Gah! I wish I could walk. I wanna quit _so_ bad."

"Avery, you know we can't afford graduate level tuition and your scholarship is only a partial one. Can you maybe ask for another assignment?" Paige suggested gently. She hated to bring up finances. She was doing all she could to help, but Avery's undergrad degree nearly blew through all of her savings even though her daughter worked and contributed as much as possible. And even though her bright girl had finished in just under three years. It was simply a fact. Avery _needed_ a paid internship.

The girl scoffed, "What other assignment? Go back and focus on the part where I was pulled off the waiting list late. There isn't anything left. The only reason I got this one was because no one else wanted it and because of Ralph. He's a legend around here and he knows this creeper somehow."

"Maybe his bark is worse than his bite? If you do a good job, he might let you assist with his actual work. You know, kill him with kindness?"

"I guess," came the disgruntled reply. Then after a pause she added, "I'm seriously going to kill your son. And not with kindness."

There was another slight pause while Paige digested everything Avery told her. Then it finally occurred to her to ask, "You say Ralph knows this guy? Who is he?"

"He's the whole reason there are professional counselors on campus for the students, that's who."

Paige snorted softly at her child's comment. "What's his name, Sweetie?"

"Doctor O'Brien. As in Doctor 'Walter the Wicked Warlock' O'Brien."

The phone clattered to the floor from Paige's nerveless fingers as she barely heard her daughter's distant voice calling, "Mom? _Mom_? Are you still there?"


	2. Give It Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: Here's a second installment for your weekend. Maybe it will help get you through this loooong hiatus! I laughed so hard at the reviewers who asked me not to do something evil! LOL I make no promises. I will only say that I will make it all work out in the end. Waige deserves an HEA! Hopefully you'll stick with me until we're there.**

oxoxoxoxoxo

"Just give her time. She'll grow on you."

That was Ralph's brilliant advice when Walter contacted him regarding Avery's unsuitability.

He tried his best to explain the situation. He'd never used a lab assistant before. He had no need of one now. And he certainly didn't _want_ one.

Especially an unreliable one who knew nothing of physics and couldn't even be bothered to show up on time. Plus, she hummed while she worked. _Hummed_. It was irksome.

Walter's project was too important. His focus had to be total. His calculations had to be perfectly precise. Errors were unacceptable and could be potentially dangerous.

But Ralph wielded the same magnetic control over Walter he had since he was nine, rendering his supposed mentor unable to give him the required firm 'no'. As a result, for the second day in a row, he found himself up to his neck in pressing and vital work while at the same time listening distractedly with one ear for, heaven help him, Avery to show up.

She breezed through the door six minutes past the agreed upon hour. How not shocking.

Then she dumped her heavy book bag under the nearest lab table. Right on top of a stack of crucial research data he'd been collating for months.

Next, she aimed what most people would deem a charming smile his way and gave him an annoyingly perky greeting as if she had no cares in the world and no where to be.

"Hello again, Boss! Where would you like for me to start today?"

Walter clenched his jaw to prevent a biting response and hooked his index finger behind the bridge of his reading glasses in order to slide them down toward the tip of his nose. He wanted to see her more clearly when he gave his instructions. The last thing he needed was for her to appear magnified. Her presence was already larger than life and took up more space in his private working environment than he would prefer.

"You can begin by moving your backpack to a more suitable location. Like the storage closet by that window," Walter said in a tight voice, indicating the window he'd mentioned with a jerk of his chin.

"Yeth, Mathter," She answered in a strange, gravelly voice before grabbing her book bag and walking with a odd stooped-over, shuffling gait, dragging one foot as well as her bag behind her.

Walter frowned in confused annoyance. This girl was _weird_. No two ways about it.

' _Ralph could have warned me_ ', he thought resentfully.

Fortunately, she straightened back up and began to walk normally before approaching him again. Her eyebrows were raised over her expressive, gray-green eyes in anticipation of his further directions.

He pointed to the stack of papers on the left hand corner of his desk. "There. That's a copy of the syllabus and the problems you'll have to go over today. The class needs to be ready for a quiz on Thursday. And you'll need to hurry. They've been seated for seven minutes. In another three minutes they will feel free to 'walk' the class."

Avery's stared at him with her mouth opening and closing like a guppy's while making unintelligible grunt-like noises reminiscent of a dull, adenoidal troglodyte.

"Go. Now. They're waiting, but they won't wait much longer." Walter made a shooing motion with his hands.

"Y-you want me to _teach_? _Today_?" She ended her query on such a high pitch, she squeaked.

"I was led to believe it was one of the functions of a student assistant. So, _yes_. I'm at a critical point in my research and I can't stop at this juncture to teach my Freshman Calculus class."

He picked up the papers he'd indicated and shoved them in her direction. Luckily she woke up from her daze long enough to grab them in her arms and hug them to her chest.

"B-but, uh, I never took college-level calculus. It wasn't a requirement for my degree…"

She still looked stunned and didn't move. It was as if her shoes were glued to the floor.

"It's all in the notes," He said dismissively and pushing his glasses back up, he turned his focus to his tablet where lines of code were busily scrolling. Walter proceeded to ignore her subsequent sputtering until she _finally_ left him in peace, the vehement slamming of the door only caused a momentary disruption before his brain returned all of his attention to his primary priority. He was soon lost in a blizzard of coding, science and related equations.

Some seventeen minutes later he detected a faint disturbance coming from his classroom down the hall. Mathematics classes weren't typically known for their exuberance, so he wondered at it, but couldn't be bothered to check on things for another five minutes or so. After he heard the unmistakable sounds of cheering. And clapping.

Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his unruly curls, snatched his glasses off and tossed them on top of the work table before pinching the bridge of his nose. Was that _chanting_? His freshman calculus class had started loudly and rhythmically chanting. The words were unintelligible, but they were definitely chanting.

Standing up from the high stool where he'd been seated, Walter took a moment to stretch the kinks and stiffness out of his back and hips. At fifty-five he often felt the effects of spending more time on research than athletics. Another outburst came roaring down the hallway, followed by laughter and a sound he could only describe as hooting.

Grumbling, Walter marched purposefully out of the lab and toward the amphitheater-style room two doors down. Pausing for a minute, he peered through the narrow window.

He was completely astounded by the sight before him.

Two students stood at the chalkboard behind the podium furiously scribbling solutions to one of the problems he'd assigned the class. A heading at the top of the board read ' _Don't Be an Ass-ymptote!_ _Extreme_ _Calculus 101. Just Du It_!' The double curved symbol used for a du substitution was turned diagonally on its side underneath the caption. Curious.

Also quite clever. Math humor. He chuckled. Not half bad.

His laugh felt oddly rusty in his throat like an old, unoiled hinge. He couldn't recall the last time he'd genuinely laughed about anything.

The chanting turned out to be the names of the two freshmen competitors. When one finished seconds before the other one, there was a brief cessation of the noise while Avery checked the notes Walter provided to see if the answer was correct. When she flashed the group a lively thumbs-up, the raucous students started cheering again as the competitors resumed their seats and the next two in the same row approached the front.

His teaching assistant's methods were a little unorthodox, but all the students were engaged and participating at least. No one appeared to be sleeping like they did when he was at the lectern.

Walter decided to let Avery finish out the period as he watched in fascination from his limited vantage outside. He was simply amazed at her ingenuity and smiled to himself.

It felt as if the class ended in no time and all the students acted like they were reluctant to leave while they gathered their books and powered down their computers and tablets. Walter could sympathize. He hadn't wanted the contest to end either and was frankly amazed at how quickly the time had passed.

There was a collective groan when Avery told them about the quiz on Thursday. Walter took that as his cue to go back to the lab and he meandered thoughtfully back in that direction before the freshmen began to pour out into the hall.

A few minutes later, Avery strolled confidently through the door wearing a smooth, mirth-filled expression. Wisps of her honey-colored hair cork-screwed out of her curly pony tail and stood up in super-fine springs around her head like a fuzzy halo. Her tilt-tipped green eyes and pointed chin gave her the look of a mischievous elf.

The girl's features didn't really seem familiar, but the proud look on her face strongly reminded him of someone. For the life of him he couldn't quite place who.

He stood blinking at her for a few seconds before she finally broke the silence.

"Well? What did you think?" She grinned at him and wagged one finger back and forth. "Don't stand there and pretend you weren't lurking out in the hall. I saw you."

Walter's lips twitched. He cleared his throat. "Your methods were a bit… unusual to say the least."

Avery's eyes narrowed and she fisted her hands on her hips. "Admit it. You were impressed."

"It probably wasn't the most efficient way to relay the subject matter. But… I do have to say, the energy and enthusiasm for the material was slightly more enhanced than normal," he conceded.

One of her eyebrows shot up. "High praise indeed, professor."

"We won't have proof of the effectiveness until after Thursday's quizzes have been graded," Walter shifted his weight from one foot to the other and rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. "I thought the math humor you wrote on the board was sort of, uh, amusing."

"Liked that, did you?" Avery smirked.

"I confess I did enjoy that part." Unable to make eye contact, he stared at his shoes and added, "Overall, I think you, uh… did well. For a first try. You showed enterprise and the ability to figure out a solution when under pressure."

"Wait. Was that a compliment I heard buried in there somewhere?" she teased, "I usually excel at thinking on my feet. That's just how Avery Armstrong gets things done."

Walter's head snapped up at that statement. "Excuse me? Did you say _Armstrong_? Um, is Ralph your _brother_ by any chance?" The genius' gaze was riveted on her face when she nodded.

"So your father's name is… Timothy?" His upper lip curled in undisguised contempt.

"Yes. So?" Avery answered in what sounded suspiciously like a belligerent tone. It figured.

All the blood seemed to drain from his head to feed his obnoxiously pounding heart. "And you-you're… Paige's _daughter_ then?" Walter inquired breathlessly. Then he gulped trying unsuccessfully to stem the rising tide of unwelcome and distressful emotions.

"Are you okay?" Avery asked, her head tilted slightly to the side, concern furrowing her brow.

In that instant she looked so much like her mother Walter's mind immediately transported him back to one of the worst days of his life. And he relived every second like it happened only yesterday. That one stupid, tragic day he'd remembered everything that happened on Elia's rocket. The horrible night following the return of his memories when he was feeling hurt, humiliated, angry and, yes, afraid, he'd fired Paige and ruined his final chance at love.

He'd only seen her once more after that. At Toby and Happy's wedding ceremony. She'd been exceptionally beautiful that evening and he was unsurprised to find his feelings toward her hadn't abated one iota in her four week absence from Scorpion. He actually thought he might have one more chance to tell her. To explain everything. He'd already apologized to Ralph and was working up the courage to approach her.

Then that interloping former intern, Avery's father, showed up at Kovelsky's at the worst possible time. Everyone at the reception was _so_ glad to see him. So happy he could be there to share the celebration.

Everyone except Walter. Because Tim had waltzed back in and stolen not only his dance with Paige, but his final opportunity to be with her.

She had gone back to work at Elia's company, the Scorpion team was stranded on that stupid island for three weeks, and by the time they'd made it safely home… the damage was irrevocable.

The genius had spent every waking moment since trying to solve the problem with science. That was his entire motivation to recruit and hire more geniuses for Scorpion. It was why he'd pursued higher education, so he would have the funding and the equipment for his research. And it was the whole reason he'd ceded control of his company over to Ralph when the boy reached adult status and finished with his own education.

Walter told everyone he was simply getting too old for the physical aspects of the job. Most of them believed him. All except for Toby. For once the shrink maintained his silence on the subject.

Over the years, Walter had begun to withdraw from everything and everyone in pursuit of a solution. He sometimes regretted it, but he couldn't afford to waste anymore time. Besides, he knew if he found the right formula, he could make it all up to them.

Because he was going to do the impossible and turn the clock back. It was everything he'd spent the last twenty-one years striving toward. He would only require enough time to go back and fix the problem.

He was _so_ close now. He couldn't afford any distractions. They must be eliminated.

Walter took a deep breath and looked Avery square in the eyes. His words sounded hollow and strangely similar to the fatal ones he'd spoken to Paige so long ago.

"I'm sorry, but your services are no longer required here."


	3. One More Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: If you are still with me, thank you. It means a lot after the bomb I dropped in the last chapter. Don't worry. Be patient. Let the story unfold and I promise I will fix it. All in good time...**

 **Review, pretty please.**

 **OXOXOXOXOXO**

Walter did _not_ have time for this.

After his long ago experience with Paige, he figured the odds were good Avery would tell him to go to hell and storm off in a huff like her mother did when he'd let her go from Scorpion. Or he thought she might aggressively try to claim Ralph ' _processed_ _the paper work so I won't be going anywhere whether you like it or not_ ' thereby employing the same pushy, bullying tactic her interloping father had used.

He hadn't expected her to stand there trembling, trying to reason with him using a blend of logic and begging. It didn't fit the nature or nurture categories Toby had always told him were probable cornerstones of behavior. Since when did someone defy both DNA and influences? It seemed humans could still surprise him.

"Dr. O'Brien, please. Please. You can't do this. You shouldn't fire me because of whatever happened with my parents! I'm not my parents." She led with those words. Obvious, but still a reasoned argument.

He attempted to explain. "I'm not 'firing' you…" Uh, oh. Unshed tears were making her dark eyelashes spiky. Walter did not know if he could handle crying. He lacked experience. It wasn't like he could call her mother to ask for advice either.

She interrupted him. "I figured you and my mom had some kind of history or something because she acted all weird when I told her I was working for you…"

"I'm just not used to having anyone in my lab when I work. It's disrupting…"

"She only told me she used to work for you. But that's all she would say. And when I asked Ralph, he said you were the one who started the company he manages. You're like his silent partner, right? Doesn't that mean you guys are friends? I assume the two of you work well together. You trust him. I can try to be more like my brother. If you give me another shot…"

" _You hurt my mother. If I was bigger, I would fight you…_ " The unpleasant memory of Ralph's reaction when he'd fired Paige suddenly flashed through his mind. Would the younger genius be as angry at Walter this time? Would it cause an irreparable rift between them? That would be unacceptable. Ralph was one of the few people Walter interacted with regularly.

He shook his head to clear it and calmly tried again, "Yes. Your mother worked for me and your father did too for a time. In a round-about way. They actually met when they worked at Scorpion. And yes, Ralph and I are friends. It's nothing personal, you understand. I have nothing against you. I simply prefer working alone…"

Dammit. A lone tear escaped and trailed down her distraught face. His heart squeezed painfully.

Brushing at the moisture impatiently, she pleaded, her voice coming out a little strangled, "Please. I _need_ this job. Ever since my dad left us, my mom has done her best. And she's done great. Mr. Elia has always paid her well. But graduate school is not in her budget. I know she would willingly borrow the money and go into debt for me… The problem is, I wouldn't be able to pay her back. I'm planning to go into mission work. When I graduate, I want to counsel low income families and underprivileged kids. There isn't a lot of money in that, so I need to work my way through now…"

And there it was. She had to go and play the 'greater good' card. Considering all the facts, how could he refuse?

Wait.

"Your dad _left_ you? So, they're divorced?" Interesting.

"What?" Avery's impassioned speech came to a sudden halt and she stared at Walter completely nonplussed.

"I asked if your parents are divorced," He inquired, trying to disguise his enthusiasm for the idea behind an impassive mask.

Walter had stopped tracking Paige online when he'd heard of her marriage. It was much too…painful to contemplate. The same reasoning made him stop asking for regular updates from Elia as well. And while he kept in pretty close contact with Ralph, he'd never spoken about the boy's mother unless it was unavoidable. People stopped offering information because he would always shut the conversation down immediately or simply walk away.

It was about that same time he came up with an idea for a viable solution and spent all his spare time for weeks doing preliminary theories, calculations and specs. After that, he immersed himself completely in his work to the exclusion of almost everything else in his life.

The news Paige was single made him feel like he'd been shaken from a nightmare spanning two decades. Which was a ridiculous notion.

"Illogical," Walter muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Avery was eyeing him like he was out of his mind. "Um. Yeah. Years ago. I don't have any real memories of them being together. My dad is remarried and lives on the East Coast with his new family. I don't have a lot of contact with him. What does this have to do with…?"

"Good. I mean. Fine. Um, you stated your case succinctly. We-we can… That is, you, uh, can continue to work here on a trial basis. I have two conditions. You can never tell Ralph about this incident and you _must_ strive to be less of a disturbance…"

The girl shrieked and threw her arms around his shoulders effectively pinning his arms to his sides.

Walter stiffened, feeling awkward and counting the seconds until she loosened her grip. He'd grown unaccustomed to being touched again. In fact, he couldn't recall the last time someone touched him purposely. He was finding the sensation unpleasant. Plus, her disorderly hair was tickling his nose. He jerked his head to one side and tried to extricate himself from her enthusiastically grateful embrace.

"Oh, thank you! You won't regret it, I swear!" Avery squeezed Walter tightly once more before releasing him.

"I already do. I don't enjoy contact. Please make note of that for the future."

She covered her mouth as if to hold in the giggles. Her attempt wasn't even partially successful.

"Sorry," she said, grinning unapologetically, "Noted." She made a check mark in the air.

Walter gave her a frowning once-over in evaluation, "I have to point out, you don't closely resemble either parent. In appearance or action." Then waving vaguely toward her head, he asked, "For example, neither of your parents has curly hair, but yours is-is…?"

"An out-of-control mess? I know, right? It's a curse. I think one of my dad's sisters had curly hair when she was young or something. Today is _mos def_ a high hair-o-metric pressure day too. On humid or rainy days it's always a little more wild than usual. Besides, you're one to talk. You look like you have a full-size poodle sleeping up there." Avery trained her eyes upward toward his own hair.

For the second time that day, she caught him off guard and surprised a laugh out of him. _Hair_ -o-metric pressure. A clever bit of science humor. "I, uh, it's been a little while since I've had a trim. No time." he said, shrugging and giving her a lop-sided, rather rueful smile.

After a moment, he added thoughtfully, "You also didn't react the way either of your parents did when I fired them…"

"Do what?" Avery's mouth dropped open.

But Walter had already lost interest in the conversation.

Switching gears entirely, he pointed toward the animal habitat. "Cabe the Tenth's and Allie the sixth's and oh, um, T-tim… I-I mean the rat over there, their cages need cleaning and they all need fresh food and water," then he added softly, "Uh, p-please."

Snapping a smart salute and clicking her heels together, Avery strode purposefully over to start on the task he'd set for her.

"Again, try to remember I need quiet to concentrate," He reiterated sternly in case she forgot.

"You won't even know I'm here," she stated.

It wasn't long before she began mindlessly humming as she scrubbed and refilled the water bottles.

oxoxoxoxoxo

Avery burst through the front door of the condo like the force of nature she was. Unobtrusive she was not. Keys still jingling in the deadbolt, she would be unceremoniously dropping her suitcase and a canvas bag stuffed with dirty clothes on the floor next.

She couldn't be seen from the kitchen, but Paige could picture her daughter's normal routine perfectly.

"Hey, Mom!" She called seconds later. "I finally made it! I got kind of a late start and the traffic was absolute murder. Something sure smells amazing! I'm ravenous bordering on hangry. Do you need any help…? Oh, hi!"

Paige stepped into the entry and caught Avery up in a tight hug swallowing around the lump in her throat. "Oh, how I've missed you!" The nest was feeling emptier than ever these days. The three months since the semester started felt like a short eternity.

The girl gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek as they pulled apart. "Wow, Mom. You're looking more gorgeous than usual. That red sweater I bought you is doing you all kinds of favors. Now, when do we eat?"

Paige slung her arm around one of her favorite people on the planet and bumped her with a hip. "Ah, the old butter-mom-up-so-she'll-feed-the-poor-starving-college-student routine. I think we've played this game before."

Avery wrinkled her nose and snickered. "Why mess with what works? Feeeed meeee!"

They walked arm-in-arm to the kitchen where Paige went back to basting the turkey while Avery rummaged through the refrigerator loading one arm with lunchmeat, cheese and mayonnaise. Chattering while she grabbed the bread and threw together a rolled over half sandwich, she asked, "So, when's Ralph coming in?"

"He's supposed to be here around one, I think."

"Is he bringing his flavor-of-the-month this time?" Avery said around a mouthful.

Paige tore off a paper towel and handed it over even as she was biting her lip to keep from laughing. "You shouldn't call her that. Emma seems really nice. I think it may be getting serious."

The younger woman tossed her mother a skeptical look even as she took the paper towel and swiped the mayo off of her mouth. "Dream on."

"No really. He told me he's thinking about getting her a ring for Christmas."

"Two weeks. Three at the outside and she's history. I'm telling you. Then he'll be _ring_ ing out the old and in the new just in time for Christmas. You'll see." She boosted herself up to sit on the opposite counter and continued, "Hey, by the way, my car is giving me that little wrench symbol warning light thing-y again. Do you think Ralph could take a look at it while I'm home?"

Before Paige could answer, there was a brisk knock on the door. She wiped her hands on a handy dish towel and was about to go see who it was when Avery jumped down and caught her by the elbow to stop her. She was wearing an odd, semi-panicked look on her face, making Paige instantly suspicious.

"I invited a friend to come eat with us. It was kinda last minute and he's early, of course, so I didn't have a chance to warn you. I hope that's okay."

"It's a little late to ask permission now," Paige replied over her shoulder as she walked toward the door with Avery trailing guiltily behind her.

She was still looking back at her daughter when she turned the knob and opened the door.

Her heart jumped to her throat when an all-too-familiar voice she hadn't heard in eons said, "Hello, Paige. Um, Happy Thanksgiving?"


	4. Down Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: Happy Scorpion Mon-Yay! So excited for tonight's episode, I thought I'd crank out this chapter to give me something to do while I'm impatiently waiting.**

 **As always, BIG thank yous for the reviews.**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

Time stood still.

In the past, Walter always considered that phrase stupid. It didn't fit any provable, scientific facts.

Sometimes experience is the best teacher, however.

Because as he and Paige stared into each other's eyes after twenty-one years of separation, he could've sworn nothing and no one in the entire world moved or breathed or blinked or spoke. All of existence froze as surely as the two of them did.

Somewhere deep within, he acknowledged she was every bit as stunning as the last time he laid eyes on her. More so if that was possible.

The spell was shattered when she uttered the same words she'd spoken when he first showed up at her door all those long years ago.

"Walter? What are you doing here?" Except this time there was no accompanying smile and her voice didn't sound welcoming, only shocked. And maybe a little appalled.

"This was a mistake…" he mumbled before turning to go.

"Wait!" Avery darted into view from behind her mother and grabbed his arm.

His young assistant often ignored his hard and fast 'no contact' rule by patting his arm or shoulder and occasionally hugging him. In the same way she had of ignoring most of the other things he demanded which she found nonsensical. She showed almost no respect for his superior intellect or his authority.

And yet he felt a certain inexplicable attachment to her and had even grown to enjoy the invasion of his lab and ultimately his life he'd once dreaded and resented. No one could describe the girl as restful. More like _restive_. But his mind found a measure of calm in her company for some reason anyway. It was one trait she shared with Paige.

"Come in, already. Don't stand in the doorway all day. You're a little early, that's all." Avery coaxed, tugging him inside.

He frowned at her, then leaning down to speak in her ear in hushed tones through stiff lips, he said, "You led me to believe you'd discussed this beforehand. That you already had approval."

"No. I told you my mom abso-poso-lutely wouldn't _mind_. And she doesn't. Not really." She turned to look over her shoulder at Paige as she dragged him in what he assumed was the direction of the living room.

Paige pivoted to watch them walk to the sofa, but other than that she didn't move or make a sound, her face still wearing the signs of shocked disbelief as if he was an apparition.

Walter supposed he was a ghost from her past made manifest uninvited at her Thanksgiving table. Not unlike the year Veronica showed up unannounced. He sincerely hoped he hadn't been relegated to the same category as Paige's mother.

"Can I get you something to drink? I know it's barely afternoon, but it is a holiday. Would you like a glass of wine?" Avery asked, acting the part of an innocent and gracious hostess as her mother shuffled zombie-like into the room, her stare fixed on his face. Walter was starting to think seeing him again might have caused a stroke.

"I don't drink. Could I get a glass of ice water, please?" He answered automatically at the exact same moment as Paige replied robotically, "He doesn't drink. Let's get him a glass of ice water."

"Well, that was weird, right?" Avery grinned, her eyes volleying between the awkward pair of them.

"Walter, please have a seat. Avery, could I get your help in the kitchen for a second? Maybe you could brew some coffee." Paige seemed to snap out of her stupor and gave the genius a brittle smile before following her daughter out of the room.

As he listened to them whisper-yelling at one another in the next room, he debated with himself over the wisest course of action. Should he leave? He had plenty of things he could be doing back at the lab. This was turning into a gigantic waste of time and progress. Should he stay like a large part of him was longing to do? He couldn't deny he'd been soaking in the sight of the woman he'd never gotten over, foolishly craving the opportunity to be in her vicinity for a little while longer no matter how much she obviously didn't want him there.

While Paige and her daughter were arguing in the kitchen and Walter was arguing with himself, Ralph picked that opportune moment to show up.

oxoxoxoxoxo

Countless times Paige daydreamed about seeing Walter again.

In twenty-one years she had innumerable imaginary conversations with him. Questions she'd asked. Demands she'd made. Accusations she'd thrown. Apologies she'd offered.

But when he'd finally shown up at her door, what happened?

Paige was struck mute while every thought in her brain indecisively clogged the pathway to her mouth and every emotion in her repertoire poured rapidly through her faltering heart.

The only thought resonating clearly in her head was how totally unfair it was he was still such an incredibly beautiful man. He was even more attractive, if that was remotely possible.

She might've been able to forgive him for aging so gracefully if it didn't break her heart because he also seemed so tired, so thin… so sad and empty. The years had evidently been both kind and cruel to him. She wanted to feed him. She wanted to help him. She wanted to comfort him. She needed to hug him. She barely stopped herself.

Paige saw straight through his thick armor, because it was identical to the shell she often pulled around herself. Like in that moment when everything came rushing back.

The last words Walter spoke to her were at Happy and Toby's wedding and they were indelibly written in her memory. He'd complimented her. Told her the logistics of putting the wedding together must've been daunting and he was impressed. Paige knew him well enough to know he was leading up to something else. Something more important.

Then Tim showed up. Paige couldn't deny she'd been happy to see him. The whole day she felt off. She'd worked with the team, but was no longer a part of it. She was at home in the garage, but no longer felt quite welcome. Her desk was occupied and her possessions, along with the previous three years of her life, were stuck in a box ready to leave with her. She'd wondered off and on all day if that's how Tim felt during the time he worked with Scorpion.

When she greeted the former SEAL gladly and warmly and agreed to dance with him, Walter backed away. Shut down. Anything else he meant to say that evening went unspoken.

Now she hated herself for feeling a little smug about it, but at the time the sting of Walter firing her out of nowhere was still fresh.

The next day, Paige received the news about the plane crash. She thought the whole team was lost to her forever and Walter would never have another opportunity to say anything to her again.

She was disconsolate. And Tim was _so_ kind and helpful. So understanding. So supportive. She and Ralph were both grieving and Tim held her together when she felt like her entire world was coming apart. She'd needed to cling to someone solid and he was warm and real and there.

For a while afterwards, things were kind of a blur.

Paige discovered she was pregnant about the same time Team Scorpion was rescued. And she allowed Tim to talk her into marrying him.

Looking back, she thought Tim might have panicked when he heard Walter was coming back unharmed. Maybe they both did.

Her ex-husband was certainly sensitive about any mention of the genius. Throughout their short marriage they had more than a few screaming matches about her former boss. They'd only escalated after Avery was born until they both agreed the atmosphere was toxic for both of the children. It was probably the only thing they'd agreed about in the end.

Paige only rarely heard Walter's name mentioned after the demise of her marriage. Mostly when Ralph was asking permission to spend time at the garage or go on some outing or other with the team.

For years she expected to hear from Walter directly, thinking he would feel the need to call or come by. Say all those unspoken things. But he never did. So she never did. And there they were. Locked in a twenty plus year impasse waiting for someone to make the first move.

Until now.

"Avery," Paige hissed, her eyes flitting around the kitchen as if Walter had planted listening devices, "What part of this did you think this would be okay with me?"

" _Mo-om_ ," her daughter whispered forcefully back, "He's my boss and more importantly my _friend_. You've never minded me bringing my other friends around before."

"This is different and you _know_ it."

"How am I supposed to know _anything_? You didn't tell me anything. I have no idea what did or did not go on between the two of you. You only said you used to work for him. So? I used to work at Fro-Yo-Ma. I wouldn't forbid you from inviting my former manager Phil to dinner even if it would be a little strange since he's shorter than you by about a foot and he's like fat-fat, as in you don't know whether to go around him or jump over…"

"I'm not buying this for one minute. Ralph probably told you…"

"Nothing. As in zero. Locked it down. Gave me no intel what-so-ev. _And_ I heavily hinted around to him I might be inviting Walter today. He gave my plan the enthusiastic double thumbs up…" Avery argued, throwing her brother under the bus without qualm.

"I'm just not comfortable with this, Avery." Paige sighed. She felt the weight of her daughter's hand fall on her shoulder right beside her collection of heavy emotional baggage.

"Mom. He's _lonely_. All he ever does is work, holed up in that lab twenty-four/seven. I felt bad for him. He's not so awful, you'll see. It's one meal, okay?"

They heard the front door open and came out of the kitchen in time to see Walter and Ralph greet each other enthusiastically. While Paige watched, the two males exchanged the type of hug peculiar to men, shaking hands, bumping shoulders and slapping one another heartily on the back. Observing their interaction gave her a feeling of doleful nostalgia.

Walter's evident affection for her son was always a weak spot for her. In spite of her history with him, the older genius was still the only real father Ralph had ever known.

Paige stepped over and planted a kiss on her son's cheek and hugged him tight around the neck trying to dispel the tension she was fighting. "Happy Thanksgiving, Ralph. I'm so glad you're here."

Then trying for a casual tone, she addressed the group as a whole, "Dinner will be ready in another forty-five minutes to an hour. You guys entertain yourselves while I go finish up."

Paige missed the silent exchange between her kids as she made a hasty escape. She was hoping keeping herself busy with food prep would help her settle down enough to slide her cordial mask back in place. Her hands were shaking so much she nearly dropped the turkey when she slipped it back into the oven to finish browning.

Some twenty minutes later, Paige returned to deliver the glass of water she only just remembered she offered Walter. What she beheld made her stop short.

Avery, Walter and Ralph sat huddled up, heads together, looking at something Ralph was showing them on his phone. Then all three of them burst into laughter over something Avery said. Teasing, playful shoves and more laughter followed. It struck her this was exactly like almost every fantasy she'd ever had of the quintessential normal, happy family gathering on any given holiday.

Walter glanced up and his shining eyes met hers. He no longer looked quite so empty. In that instant all their years apart melted away along with every drop of her reluctance. Paige made up her mind then and there to enjoy every last bit of this moment, this hour, this day. Make the most of now.

Paige intended to move forward, because everyone knows you can never go back and change the past.


	5. Old Times' Sake

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: This should be the last chapter with back story. I think I got it all in there. So, we should be mostly moving forward from here. Drop me a review if you're still with me and wanna see where this story is going. Thanks!**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

It was way past time for him to leave.

He didn't want to overstay his welcome.

It just felt so incredibly good to be welcomed at all. Even if Paige had her doubts when he'd first put in an appearance. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed the camaraderie and friendship. The sense of Belonging. And family. But he dared not think in terms like that. Not yet.

Walter's EQ development had suffered from the years of separation and isolation, but he concluded the day had gone well after the initial uncomfortable encounter. The presence of Paige's children appeared to alleviate the awkwardness and build a bridge between them. For that fact especially, he experienced his most grateful Thanksgiving in years.

As they ate, he and Ralph talked enthusiastically about the direction the younger man wanted to take Scorpion, conversing at length about each of the innovations he was eager to implement. The company boasted two teams of geniuses and three full-time liaisons now, as well as a newer, state-of-the-art facility. Toby and Happy continued to work at Scorpion. Walter and Sylvester only occasionally consulted in their individual areas of expertise.

Lingering over dessert, Walter spent a long time reminiscing and exchanging information with the other three at the table about the original Scorpion team members. He listened with pride to all of their accomplishments, absorbing their news like a dried-out sponge.

He was thrilled to hear Sylvester was recently elected to the California State Senate and was lauded for his inventive ideas in environmental conservation. Sly had also remarried and relocated to Sacramento where he managed a thriving legal aid charity when the Senate wasn't in session. Walter frequently emailed or Skyped with Sly, but the subject matter mostly centered around math and the tricky equations required for his project.

He already knew Happy and Toby had three kids, all teenagers. The twin boys were eighteen and about to graduate from college. With honors, of course. Walter was surprised to learn they were the result of in vitro fertilization. He was completely unaware the couple ever had fertility issues. However, he was not surprised to hear their fourteen year old daughter was adopted. They had gotten her as a foster child when she was three. Walter supposed that made sense given Happy' s background. It made him inexplicably glad to find out Paige was the one who babysat for them when a mission took them out of the country.

Walter mostly kept up with the Curtis family through Happy, because he often needed her help with mechanical issues and designs. It was too... difficult to speak directly to Toby very often, so he didn't. The shrink saw through him with a bit too much clarity and would usually offer unsolicited advice.

They were all aware Cabe had long since retired. He and Allie bought a Winnebago and were travelling around the country wherever it struck their fancy. At seventy-nine he was still the same. Tough as nails exterior with a marshmallow center. He considered the Quinn-Curtis offspring and Paige's children his grandkids and normally popped by sometime around their birthdays.

Cabe sent postcards to Walter via snail mail. He wasn't a tech fan. Some things never change.

It was so gratifying to hear everyone was fine and in contact with all of the Dineens. Walter refused to think of any of them as Armstrongs.

As they cleaned up the kitchen and stored the leftovers, Avery kept peppering the conversation with witticisms that made them all laugh throughout the process. She entertained them with very apt, gently teasing descriptions and affectionate imitations of all the crew members, both old and new. Her IQ might not be as high as Walter's and Ralph's, but it was evident she mostly understood their conversation and often added humorous insights or observations. She was definitely smart. The perfect blend of IQ and EQ.

Sometime after the meal, as they migrated back into the family room, Walter realized he was over full. The food was excellent, of course. He hadn't paid much attention to when or what he ate for a very long time. These days eating was considered a necessary fuel source and a periodic, aggravating, work interruption. He usually paid no attention to the taste.

The whole day was an overall pleasant experience for Walter. Even after the video game battle morphed into a holiday movie marathon.

But being around Paige again was _so_ much more than simply pleasant. It was a narcotic for pain he'd endured for so long he hardly noticed anymore until it eased up.

He'd forgotten how soothing he found her presence. She was like an eye in the hurricane of thoughts in his brain. Throughout the day and into the evening, they discussed old cases and old times and old acquaintances and caught each other up on the more recent events in their own lives too, carefully avoiding certain topics best left alone.

Currently, Ralph was asleep in the recliner. Avery had fallen asleep on the couch as well. Walter and Paige were sitting side-by-side on the loveseat and her head was nodding drowsily toward his shoulder as credits rolled on the television screen.

He didn't ever want to move.

But it was past time for him to go.

Though he was reasonably sure he could eventually reclaim this moment if he would get back to work, he was reluctant to end it.

oxoxoxoxoxo

She drifted on feelings of warmth, comfort. She felt relaxed, safe and more serene than she'd been in quite some time.

Until Walter stood up and jarred her fully awake.

"I should probably go," he said softly, "Thank you. Today was… Today was, uh…"

Paige felt silly, stupid tears prickling her eyes. She blinked them back and cleared her throat. "Pretty perfect, actually. I'm glad you were here, Walter." She was tempted to ask him to stay, but she knew it wasn't wise. "I'll walk you out."

She stood and stretched the kinks out of her back and legs, looking fondly at her sleeping children before following Walter into the foyer.

He opened the front door then turned around to face her. They stared at each other self-consciously for a few seconds, both scrambling for something to say.

Trying to dispel the sudden tension building between them, Paige gestured in the direction of her family. "I remember the days when I could fall asleep anywhere and not pay the price later. Now I sit in the wrong position for ten minutes and I stiffen up. Do you know what I mean?"

Walter shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Yes."

More silence descended while neither made a move.

Paige swallowed. "Um. I guess I've changed a bunch since the last time you saw me."

Walter's focus narrowed on her as he tilted his head slightly to one side in an evaluating manner, "How do you mean?"

"Well, I've gotten twenty years older."

"Twenty-one. And so have I. I don't see the relevance." He frowned, eyes searching her face, genuinely confused.

"Are you kidding me?" she scoffed.

"No. You are still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Paige gaped at him in astonishment as he whispered more to himself than her, "I'm going to fix this. I promise."

With those words, Walter turned and walked out into the night.

 **AN: Of course I borrowed some of the last lines from "Go With the Flo". It was one of my favorite Waige scenes, so it had to be done.**


	6. Desperate Times

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: I had a little extra time today (maybe that was Walter's doing?) And I was able to finish and edit another chapter. Enjoy!**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

There's no time like the present.

That's how the saying goes anyway.

And that's what Paige kept telling herself as she sat on the edge of the brick planter outside Walter's lab pretending intense interest in her phone and chewing on a broken thumbnail. The only thing on her homescreen at the moment, however, was a picture she'd covertly snapped at Thanksgiving of Walter and her kids in the midst of their video game war.

Could she be any more pathetic? Here she was posing as the world's oldest college student, or even worse, some sort of weird IQ groupie, loitering outside Walter's workplace giving herself silent pep talks trying to work up the courage to walk inside.

She was a middle-aged woman, not a middle school girl with her first crush. _And_ she had a legitimate excuse to be there. Her daughter was moving. Paige took a few days off to help her. That was all.

Then why were her palms so sweaty and her pulse so thready? She took a deep breath. Why was she still so light-headed?

Because Walter O'Brien turned her world upside down again. That's why.

What the hell was he trying to do, saying something like _that_? 'Most beautiful woman I've ever seen'? Really?

He used to tell people he only stated facts. Did he learn to prevaricate and flatter people since they'd last met? Or _flirt_? It didn't seem likely. He had to get his grant funding some way. She couldn't imagine him schmoozing though.

At two weeks before Christmas, even in California, the morning was too chilly to sit around doing nothing outside.

Paige forced herself into a standing position and strode toward the glass doors, faking confidence she absolutely didn't feel. She only allowed herself to pause for a couple of seconds outside the door of the lab to read the big sign blaring in bold, red letters, "Authorized Personnel Only. Keep Out." She squinted to see the writing underneath which was obviously Avery's. Her daughter had penciled in, "Violators Will be Used as Specimens."

Snickering softly, she swiped Avery's security badge and pulled the door open just in time to see a bright flash and hear a loud pop followed by a string of muttered swear words.

Well, Walter's vocabulary had certainly expanded since her days at Scorpion.

Blinking away the leftover images of the flash floating across her vision, Paige spotted the man himself sitting on a high stool by a black-topped lab table using paper to try to contain the river of what looked like molten plastic oozing and dripping in huge globs onto the floor.

Thinking quickly, Paige tore the flaps off of a cardboard box she spied by the window and rushed over to help dam the flow of hot goop.

Walter snatched the cardboard away and took over her position before demanding, "Hurry. Go get more."

Nope. He wasn't a schmoozer.

When they'd stemmed the worst of the spill and the substance began to cool and harden, Walter finally looked up to acknowledge Paige, his brown eyes appearing huge behind his protective eyewear.

An infectious grin spread slowly across his face not unlike the stuff that coated his work surface and those eyes warmed until they looked just as melting. "Thanks."

"Good save?" She smiled back, eyebrows raised.

"Very well-timed. We make an excellent team," He nodded, pushing his goggles to the top of his head. "Hello, Paige."

"Hello, Walter. What a mess, huh?"

"Yes. Avery's going to have a difficult time cleaning it up." His grin turned to a smirk.

Paige folded her arms in feigned disapproval. "Why do I get the feeling you enjoy that idea? You do know your lab jacket…" she wrinkled her nose, "is a total loss. Probably your shirt too."

He half-heartedly swiped at the blue-green smear on his front. "Casualties of the job."

As Walter stripped off the coat, tossing it on the bench beside him and began to unbutton his shirt, Paige's gaze adhered to the sight like the blotches on the clothes he was removing. Her next breath caught in her chest.

If he was aware of her regard, he didn't act like it.

"By the way, why are you here?" He asked, his voice temporarily muffled by the undershirt that hitched up when he took off his button-down.

"Huh?" Paige replied unintelligently while she was making note of his flat abdomen, revealed to her when he was yanking his t-shirt back into place.

"Are you looking for Avery or something? She mentioned you were coming to help with the move."

Feeling a little flustered, a little flushed, Paige said, "Oh, um. Yes. She's in class taking a final right now, so I thought I'd take a break from packing and… check out where she works. Maybe say 'hi' if you were here."

"I'm always here," Walter answered ruefully.

"That's what she tells me. So, what's this all-important project anyway? What keeps you locked up in here so much of the time?" She asked, sincerely curious, staring at the solidifying blob on the table and noticing for the first time the wires poking out randomly from the center of it.

"Not one of my better efforts," Walter explained. "An error that must not be duplicated when human trials start. Fortunately, it was a dry run and Cabe the tenth or Tim…uh, I mean the, uh, lab rat weren't in the capsule this time."

"Lab rat, huh?" Paige bit her lip to keep a smile at bay. Then when she absorbed the rest of what he said, her eyes widened with alarm. "Human trials? You mean Avery could be in the middle of a giant, gooey meltdown one day?!"

Walter shook his head, placing a reassuring hand on her forearm. "No. I would never put her in danger." His eyes darted to where he was touching her and he immediately jerked his hand away.

An uncomfortable silence fell.

Walter cleared his throat and uttered, "You can trust me." At the same time she recovered her voice and said, "I trust you." Eyes meeting, they shared a knowing smile. In that instant, it felt as if the time apart never happened.

After another, more companionable pause, Paige inquired again, "Can you tell me about your work? Avery said you were building a time machine or something." She snorted after she said the words, giving him a teasing glance.

The genius squeezed his eyes closed and pulled the goggles off, dropping them beside the ruins of his failed experiment. He rubbed at his temples tensely while mumbling to himself, "She is perilously observant sometimes. I should have known she, of all people, would guess…"

Paige's threw him a skeptical look. "Wait. I thought she was joking. You can _not_ be serious."

Swiftly, he popped up and began riffling through a file cabinet. "I'll need you to sign a standard confidentiality agreement."

"Time travel? Really, Walter? That's science fiction nonsense."

He stood and handed her a form patting around on his undershirt distractedly, looking for a pen, evidently forgetting he'd jettisoned his lab coat. "All science was fiction at one time."

Paige took the paper and pulled a pen from a mug serving as a pencil holder. She clicked it a few times before signing, "A time machine, though?"

"No. That's the wrong terminology. Einstein had an idea about the subject as early as 1905. He published his theory 1915. In the most simplified terms, it goes something like this: Since time is relative, an object could theoretically travel fast enough through space to arrive before it left. Better known as the Theory of Relativity. It's not a new concept at all. You can't really call what I'm doing time _travel_ either. It's more like…," Walter searched for a more apt description, "rewinding. Yes. Like an old VHS tape."

"But why would anyone want to do that?"

"I have a lot of sponsors with very deep pockets. You'd be surprised," He picked up her agreement form from the table and bent to file it in another folder in the same cabinet.

"Like who?" She was still doubtful anyone would buy into this kind of far-fetched research.

He sighed and plopped back down to sit on the stool. "Think about it. Politicians who want to change election outcomes. Lawyers who don't like the way a trial turned out and want to change availability of evidence. CFOs who find out an employee embezzled funds and either want to fire the individual before it happens or not hire them at all. Stock brokers wanting to sell stock before it plummets… The list is endless, really."

Ugh. Paige frowned. "But that sounds…"

"Scummy? I'm aware."

"I was going to say 'wrong'. It doesn't seem like something you'd be involved with let alone dedicate so much of your time and energy to achieve." The pit of her stomach felt hollow. Maybe the Walter O'Brien she used to know didn't exist any more.

"Well, that's the beauty of it." He chuckled a little to himself. "I can use their money to fund my research, prototypes, equipment and experiments then 'rewind' myself and undo everything and never touch the science in the first place. I'm not saying no one else ever will, but it wouldn't be me. See?"

"But why do it at all?"

The self-satisfied expression dropped from Walter's face. "Don't you have regrets, Paige? One pivotal moment you would give anything to go back and change if only it was possible?"


	7. Get With the Times

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: Here's the next chapter for your reading pleasure. As always, reviews keep me motivated!**

Paige took such a long time to answer, Walter thought she wasn't going to say anything at all. So, he cleared his throat and started to change the subject.

"Like I was saying…" He began, but she cut across his words, her voice sounding strange. "Of course I have regrets. Everyone does. If anyone tells you different, they're lying. Either to you or themselves."

He nodded his agreement before babbling to keep the heavy silence from settling again, "Or they are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. Although those conditions effect short-term memory first. Or they could be a psychopath or sociopath…"

"Is this about Megan?" She interrupted softly, and placed a gentle hand between his shoulders. "Do you want to go back with a cure for her?"

The warmth of her touch and the sympathy of her tone had his throat feeling suddenly tight. No one had asked him about his sister in so long. Megan still crossed his mind at times, but thinking about her absence always opened a gaping well of loneliness and loss. He couldn't allow himself to dwell on it or he would be distracted from his purpose. Like a shark, he was determined to only swim forward. In order to go back. He recognized it was ironic in the extreme. On some level he also acknowledged the real reason he wanted to rewind seemed so incredibly selfish when compared to his former, albeit unsuccessful, quest to save his sister. Would Megan understand? Would she see he was fighting for love like she suggested he should?

Walter sat motionless, not wanting Paige to move her hand. Leaning imperceptibly into the steadying contact, he shifted his focus to the mess on his lab table and swallowing hard, he quietly replied, "Um, I can't. It's not possible yet. Medical science has advanced in the twenty-three years since her death, but not enough to find a cure for her particular illness. And while I might be able to find a computer with enough memory to store a single human consciousness now, unfortunately I've been unable to rewind inanimate objects to the past."

Paige let her hand drop and Walter's gaze drifted up to meet hers. She was looking at him with both caution and rapt curiosity. "What exactly is it you want so badly to go back and fix, then?"

He had no plan for this conversation. He'd never considered the eventuality of explaining the situation to Present Paige. How could he explain he was simply going back to reclaim his last chance with Past Paige? Words whirled around his mind, but none felt safe enough to say. In reality, he shouldn't be worried about what Present Paige thought or if he made her angry or frightened her off. In a few weeks none of it would matter. It would all belong to a future no one else would ever know.

Walter found himself unable to tell her nevertheless. In truth, he still panicked at the idea of alienating her. No matter the timeline. And part of him was terrified she would tell him she'd never shared his feelings. Plus, they had only recently reestablished a tentative friendship. So he sat staring at her, indecision rendering him mute.

Her eyes flitted toward the door and her expression turned hurt. "I guess that was a pretty personal question. I'm sorry. I have no right… I should probably go. Get back to packing."

When she started to leave, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "No. No, um, that's not it. I'm having trouble with how it will sound. Even I can comprehend stating plain facts is probably not best in this case."

"So the reason somehow involves me?" She whispered.

As their eyes met and held, Walter felt heat wash over his face. Because in that moment, he realized she _knew_. Neither of them stirred.

Until they both jumped, startled back to life by a loud knock at the door. Well, it was more like pounding. Accompanied by muffled bellowing in a familiar voice, "Hey! Open up! It's the cops! FBI? Okay, I just told you that so you'd be relieved it's only your humble lab assistant admitting she misplaced her security badge. I am in the middle of a move, you know. I'm sure it'll turn up. Hello? Yo, Wal- _ter_?"

"I should probably let her in," the genius muttered and stood. They wasted a few seconds doing an odd little back-and-forth dance as he tried to wend his way around her without touching her or looking directly at her.

"Sorry." "Excuse me." They said at the same time as Paige flattened herself as best she could against the table so he could get by.

Walter glanced at the monitor and saw Avery with her back resting against the other side of the door, blowing her fly-away bangs out of her face. Just to needle her as was their usual custom, he posed a question, "To verify you're really my lab assistant and not an imposter, tell me what is the atomic number of Californium?"

Flashing an incredulous look straight into the lens of the camera, she sneered, "How the hell should I know? I'm a _psychology_ major."

He opened the door and, without preamble, said mock sternly, "You're late."

Avery stepped around him and patted a fake yawn. "You start nearly every conversation we have that way. Frankly, it's getting a little old. Besides, I was on time at least once last week. And as you are well aware, I'm not only moving into my new apartment, but I'm in the middle of finals. Give a girl a break, will ya?"

The next instant, she noticed her mother lingering behind Walter at the work station. "Hey, mom! What're you doing here? Oh, boss? I found my badge. It's right there on the table beside my mom's purse."

Avery and Paige exchanged cheek kisses and chatted for a few minutes about things like how she did on that morning's exam and exactly what kind of industrial cleaner she was going to need to chisel the goop off the counter.

Walter watched them interact and gave his assistant a quick once over. "What's different? You look different," he butted right into their conversation.

The girl's eyes twinkled at him as she pressed both palms over her heart. "Awww. I'm touched you noticed. Seriously though, I've been a responsible Medium Blonde for a while now. I wanted a change and went with Sexy Siren Red. Like it?" She fluffed her springy curls and grinned expectantly.

"I wasn't referring to your hair color. Even though I'm going to have to wear sunglasses to be able to work in the same room with you. It's something else…" He searched her face.

Avery rolled her eyes behind the lenses of her cat-eye glasses, slipped a finger behind one ear and wiggled the eye wear up and down using the earpiece. "I'm not wearing my contacts. Way too many late nights recently. It's like trying to insert sandpaper in the ol' peepers when I'm this tired."

"No. That's not it. I spotted the glasses right away…"

"My eyes are brown, silly. My contacts aren't. You've gotten used to 'Gorgeous Green'. I thought they popped with the blonde. Just because my driver's license says brown and brown, doesn't mean I can't change it up when I get bored, you know."

She promptly went back to visiting with her mother as Walter stood there for a moment observing the two of them. Avery's mannerisms and expressions were so familiar.

A random thought crossed Walter's mind, but he quickly dismissed it with a shake of his head.

Talking over the two women again, he stated, "Take today off. I'll clean up this once. You have studying to do and you should spend time with your mother while she's here."

Paige and Avery exchanged a delighted look before the girl squealed and caught him up in a thankfully brief hug. "Thank you! Best boss in the history of ever! Hey, you should totally go to lunch with us. Right, Mom?"

Paige looked startled for a split second before she recovered and said, "Oh, uh, yes. Sure. If you're not too busy."

Walter was sorely tempted to go. But what was the point?

"Another time," he answered and wondered if either of them realized how accurate that statement actually was.

OXOXOXOXOXO

*BNA 1001 - Hello, again and thanks for reading/reviewing. I usually answer questions via PM but since you don't have an official sign in, here goes. As for Paige and Walt not being more awkward? I put it down to instant connection. They kinda had it in the diner when they first met. And I have friends in my life I haven't seen in years and can take up right where we left off. Let's put it down to them being soul mates? And as for Ralph convincing Walt to hire Avery without revealing their connection? Keep in mind, everyone has avoided the uncomfortable Waige topic for a while. No one really brings it up around Paige or Walter. The rest I put down to genius dude speak. In the middle of a case consult or science discussion, Ralph says to Walter, "hey, I need you to do me a favor." Distracted Walter says, "sure. Whatever you need." Ralph says, "I know this girl who's a late admission for graduate school. She really needs a job, but everything else is taken this semester. She's a science major and you could use her to clean up your lab and grade papers or something. I can push through the paperwork for you. All you gotta do is sign." Distracted Walter grumbles a little about working alone. Ralph says, "Give her all the grunt work." Walter grudgingly agrees to give it a try so they can get back to what they were doing. At least that's how I picture it going down. ;-) Hope that cleared things up? Thanks for taking a chance on this story. It's a little different.


	8. Time Out of Mind

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: I thought it was appropriate to post an update today since we will be losing a precious hour of sleep. It'll take me a whole week to recover.**

 **"Only the government would believe you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom and have a longer blanket." -Anonymous**

 **ICYMI, because of the Earth's axial tilt, the days get longer in the summer no matter what the clock says. *sigh* I don't care which way it is, I just wish they'd pick a way and leave it alone. Okay, rant over.**

 **Here's your update:**

It happened at the worst possible time.

The clouds had been threatening rain since midday, but the grumbling, black thunderheads picked that particular minute to open up and pour. Paige was drenched in a matter of seconds.

Now what was she supposed to do?

It was Friday and it had started off well. For the most part, the day proved to be both busy and productive.

She and Avery finished shuttling the remainder of the boxes to the new apartment after lunch, so they spent much of the late afternoon and evening cleaning up at the old place. Her daughter was bound and determined to get the whole security deposit back.

Avery scrubbed down the bathroom until it was sparkling and had just joined Paige in the kitchen when her text tone chimed. It was one of her friends asking if she'd like to meet at a nearby club. A group of fellow grad students were gathering to celebrate the end of finals and to say goodbye for the semester before they all went their separate ways for the winter break.

Not wanting to leave her mom on her own, Avery turned down the invitation at first. But Paige assured her sweet girl she didn't mind at all. She would be fine to complete the last few items on the move-out checklist alone and she would welcome a quiet evening to herself preferably including a hot bubble bath and a sappy book or movie. She figured her daughter worked hard and deserved a little down time to have fun with friends.

Paige was rewarded with exuberant gratitude in the form of a fist pump and a one hundred watt, delighted smile followed by an enthusiastic bear hug.

"You're the best-est mom on the planet! Most likely the universe too, but scientists haven't discovered moms on other worlds yet. They will soon. And when they do, I'm positive the other mothers won't be able to compete. Lunch is on me tomorrow," Avery promised as she grabbed her purse.

She tossed a quick, "Love you! Don't wait up!" in Paige's direction as she hustled out the door.

Neither one of them considered for even an instant how Paige would get into the new place to take that bubble bath or read that book as they didn't take into account the only key was safely on the same ring with Avery's car fob. In fact, the problem didn't occur to Paige until she watched the key to the old place slide irretrievably into the after hours slot of the resident office.

Oops.

Searching for her phone, she slid a hand into the back pocket of her jeans. It wasn't there. The last time Paige remembered seeing her cell, it was on the counter…in the kitchen of Avery's former and now locked apartment.

Walking back over to the unit, she tried the door just in case. No such luck. It was locked tight.

Creeping around the side of the building, vaguely worried she was going to get arrested for peeping into windows like a perv, she peered through the cheap, standard issue and thankfully open blinds. Sure enough, there was her phone.

Perfect.

With a loud crack of thunder, the angry sky picked that exact time to unload a torrent right on top of her head.

As Paige dashed and splashed all the way across the darkened campus toward her daughter's new place, she recalled a long ago conversation she had with Walter when they were clinging to a buoy in the middle of shark infested waters. He'd made some comment about it being statistically unlikely things could get any worse.

Yep. Don't ever bet on odds like those.

Because as much as Paige was hoping she could catch Avery at home still getting ready for her evening out on the town, when she arrived, she could tell by the darkened windows and the glowing porch light she was too late.

Saturated and shivering, Paige considered her options. She blinked and shielded her eyes against the lashing raindrops, taking a quick look around. Maybe someone would let her borrow a phone.

It figured. Everyone else except her had sense enough to get in out of the rain.

An idea flared to life, thawing her cold limbs and spurring her into action. Trying not to think too hard about why her mind gravitated and her body moved in Walter's direction when she needed help, she made a beeline straight for his lab.

Skidding to a stop and nearly falling flat on her butt beside the bolted double glass doors, she pounded and shouted hoping he could hear her from the interior of the building.

Nothing. No helpful genius came walking down the hall to her rescue. She was about to give up and try to find an open coffee shop or something nearby, when the little green light on the intercom caught her eye.

Paige pressed a numb finger to the 'speak' button.

Her teeth were chattering and she was shaking so much her words were almost unintelligible. "W-Walter? You there? Please be there. C-could you let me in?"

Silence.

Great. The one time the man decided to crawl out from under his rock and leave…

The speaker crackled and the most wonderful sound she'd ever heard was Walter's voice saying rudely, "Who is this? What do you want?"

Fighting back tears of relief, she tried to control her shivering long enough to respond. "Walter, it's-it's Paige. I'm l-locked out and I'm d-drenched."

There was no reply, but within seconds he was striding into view. He fumbled a little trying to undo the lock, but before long a warm whoosh of dry air surrounded her as Walter grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.

Paige was soaked to the skin, her clothes and hair plastered against her. She wrapped her arms around her trembling torso while he stood and stared at her for a moment or two.

Then, as she dripped in an ever widening puddle on the tile, Walter started pummeling her frozen brain with unhelpful questions, "What happened? Where's Avery? Why are you out in a storm at this time of night?"

" _Walter_." Paige halted him. "I'll answer anything you ask, _if_ you bring me a towel and a phone first."

"Oh. Um, yes. Of course. It would probably be best if you'd follow me."

There was no sound in the hall except for the buzzing of the florescent lights, so the emptiness magnified the noisy squishing and squeaking of Paige's shoes and each of her quavering exhalations as she trailed after Walter through the rabbit warren-like maze of hallways in the eerily deserted building. He led her up a flight of stairs and around another series of corners until they finally stopped in front of a door which he opened using an access card and a palm scanner.

Paige was so busy gawking at the bizarre collection of zapping and flashing instruments scattered around the room, she was startled when he spoke.

"The bathroom is through there." He indicated a door to his left. "There's a dresser in the corner. It contains dry clothes. I'm sure you can find something you can use. I think what you're currently wearing is beyond a towel at this point. You'd better get dried off before you use the phone."

The restroom was sterile and stark with glaring lights and no contrasting colors or décor to soften the appearance. But the white towels were amazingly plush and soft.

She sat on the edge of the bathtub and struggled to pull off her water-logged boots. Paige nearly fell backwards into the tub when the second one finally came off. The tenacious footwear popped out of her chilled fingers and flew across the room, hitting the mirror and landing with a wet _clonk_ in the sink. As she grappled to steady herself, she tried to suppress the hysterical giggles causing her shoulders to shake more than her near drowning out in the storm.

Peeling out of her jeans proved to be even more challenging than removing her shoes. The denim clung to her and stubbornly refused to budge. It was a lot like skinning a grape. As she caught her reflection in the mud-streaked mirror and noticed her underwear getting pulled off with her pants, she had the perverse thought maybe it was more like skinning a peach. The laughter rose up again, threatening to spill out without her permission.

Eventually, Paige was able to get completely undressed and stood quaking, one solid, puckered mass of goose bumps, as she toweled off. She squeezed as much water as she could from her hair and clothing then laid the largest items of her wadded and sodden garments out flat on the bottom of the tub. Her unmentionables and socks she hung over the shower curtain rail hoping Walter could hold it until they dried.

She hadn't been expecting to display her underwear, so she'd dressed for comfort, not male company. It would be the cherry on top of the whole marvelous experience for Walter to get a good look at her cotton granny panties and stretched out bra. Picturing the genius closely inspecting her ugly underthings had her fighting the giggles again. In the end she crammed the offending items inside the legs of her blue jeans. The way her night was going, it was best not to take any chances.

After rolling her hair into a turban, Paige used a hand towel to wipe up the worst of the puddles on the floor and clean off the muddy mirror. Hanging it up by her socks on the curtain rail, she proceeded to the dresser and opened the top drawer finding a variety of shirts.

Rummaging around a little, she eventually selected a zippered, fleece hoodie. It was like slipping on a hug; blissfully soft, warm and it smelled deliciously like… Nevermind.

The next drawer contained pajama pants. She grabbed a pair of flannel, drawstring ones and pulled them on bending to roll up the legs a few inches.

Paige found socks and boxers neatly folded and organized when she opened the next one. Feeling naughty, like she was snooping, even though he'd given her permission, she took a pair of socks and hurriedly closed the drawer before tugging them on over frozen toes.

Pulling the toweling off her head, she ran suddenly nervous fingers through her hair. Deciding it was a lost cause, Paige squared her shoulders and turned toward the door.

No more stalling. She needed to get in touch with Avery ASAP. She hated to interrupt her daughter's night out, but wearing Walter's clothes felt embarrassingly intimate. She really needed to leave.

Time to face the genius. While looking like a drowned rat. It would be just her luck he'd mistake her for her ex-husband's namesake, stuff her in one of his contraptions and send her back in time.

The second she stepped out of the bathroom, an intense flash of lightening caused the lights to flicker. Booming thunder loud enough to rattle the windows chased on its heels.

Everything went black.

On the bright side, Paige no longer had to worry about the disaster that was her hair. Apparently silver linings accompanied all clouds. Even the sadistic ones currently hovering over the building.

"Paige?" Walter called from somewhere off to her right. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy. You?"

The computers beeped and whirred while they rebooted and their screens blinked back to life even as the rest of the room stayed dark.

"They have a back up power source," Walter explained unnecessarily. "I can't afford to lose any data."

Paige could see his silhouette over at his desk, backlit by the blue glow of the electronics. And she had an almost overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Trying to capture the elusive impression of a buried memory left her feeling dizzy and disoriented and she swayed on the spot.

The next thing she knew, he was up and at her side with a hand at her elbow. She looked up and was captured by those fathomless, dark eyes, caught up in the potent and exhilarating emotions of something she couldn't quite remember.

"..Their consciousness must have been mathematically identical, because that's when love made sense to him…" She heard the words as a soft, distant echo.

Paige closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to Walter's.


	9. Test of Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: No new Scorpion episode tonight. Not even a repeat. :`( This update won't compare, but I think the fans deserve something on Scorpion Monday.**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

Walter was surprised to say the least, but he lost no time adjusting to the situation.

Being quick-witted was a hallmark of genius, after all. So he gathered the soft bundle that was Paige into his arms and kissed her back as if he'd been waiting for twenty-two years.

Which he had.

This one was different from their first hurried, experimental kiss. He took his sweet time noting every nuance, from her fingers tangling in the back of his unruly hair to the press of her curvy, feminine body against his. From her throaty hum muted against his lips to the rain fresh smell of her skin. From the feel of the moist inside of her lower lip when he stroked it with his tongue to the uniquely Paige taste of her mouth when she invited him inside.

Walter was so lost in her, he was finding the event so perfect, he'd been aching to hold her for so long, he would've gladly stood on the same spot, touching and kissing Paige all night.

But the power grid chose that moment to once again send electricity through the lines, and the lights flashed back on, bathing the embracing pair in their harsh fluorescent glare.

Still, they drew apart slowly, reluctant to let unwelcome reality settle in.

His hands were still on her hips, hers were still on his shoulders when her eyes fluttered open and met his.

They stood staring at each other for a good while, breathing a bit raggedly, until Paige finally took a step back and said, "Oh, uh, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Now that he wasn't holding onto Paige, Walter didn't know what to do with his hands, so he shoved them in his pockets. Giving her a crooked smile, he said, "No need to apologize. You didn't hear me raising any objections, did you?"

She huffed out an embarrassed laugh and seemed to have trouble looking directly at him. Her focus had dropped to the vicinity of his chin. "So… Your phone? Can I borrow it?"

Walter handed it to her without replying and wandered over to one of the instrument panels. He figured he might as well check to see if anything was adversely affected by the power surge while Paige made her call.

His hands were shaking slightly when he tapped numbers into the keypad, but his concentration was soon fully on the readings. The familiar activity worked to calm the jittery, weak-kneed nonsense he was experiencing after being in such close proximity with Paige.

Walter observed a spike in some of the numbers. It would be typical during the power surge, but these escalations all occurred several seconds afterwards. Most likely when he and Paige were… He adjusted a few settings and took a closer look, doing some quick calculations. Curious.

She approached him a few minutes later wearing an uncomfortable look. Handing his phone back, she opened and closed her mouth a few times as if she couldn't decide how to express something. She swallowed hard and finally said, "Well, it looks like you're stuck with me for at least a little while longer. Avery didn't answer her phone. It's probably too loud in the club for her to hear. I sent her a text, but I don't know for sure when she'll get back with me. If I knew which club, I could get a message to her. But I don't. I'm really sorry." Paige looked down, fidgeting with the hem of the shirt she borrowed.

"Hey," Walter said a little more gruffly than he intended, indignant on her behalf, "You aren't bothering me. Okay? What I'd like to know is why Avery is out clubbing while you're here to visit her. And why she left you locked out in the middle of an electrical storm…"

"Hang on a second. It's not like that," Paige answered patiently, acting the liaison as always. She told him the truth of the situation.

He nodded his understanding. Why was he inordinately pleased she would be staying at the lab? He had so much work to do and he needed to investigate the unexplained increase in the numbers. He didn't have time to entertain anyone.

Perhaps she would need to stay all night? His pulse jumped around erratically at the thought.

Paige glanced around the room, taking in the details. "Do you live here or something?"

Feeling heat suffuse his face, Walter replied, "Um. Yes. This whole building is dedicated to my work and field of study. I already told you I have sponsors with deep pockets and my research brings a lot of grant money into the university, so they allow me to use the space as I see fit. I, uh, used to keep a separate residence. Until recently. I was never there, I live very simply and didn't need the extra room, so I thought it unnecessary to-to keep it." He rubbed at the back of his neck, cutting his eyes to one side.

When he looked back, he could tell when she made the connection. Her lips parted and her eyes widened. "Avery's nice, new, beautifully appointed, extremely convenient apartment with the very, very affordable rent? That was _you_?"

Walter glowered. "I thought it would help her get to work on time occasionally. Win-win."

"Does she know?"

"No. And I would prefer it if she didn't find out. It was a logical move on my part. Avery has turned out to be a decent TA. I would hate to lose her due to lack of funds. Having to train someone else at this point would be inefficient and time consuming. And I've found your daughter is very attached to the idea of making her own way and working for what she gets. She is averse to being indebted to anyone. She can be really stubborn that way. I'm-I'm not sure she would appreciate the gesture."

"Well, her mother certainly does," Paige whispered and slipped her arms around his waist, laying her head against his chest, right over his racing heart.

This was _not_ part of the plan. He shouldn't get involved with Present Paige. Any attachment was inadvisable. No matter how incredibly _good_ it felt to be held by her. He absolutely couldn't allow himself fall in love in the now… He had to remain faithful to Past Paige for his plan to succeed.

When she stepped away, he wanted to draw her back against him. But he didn't.

Paige was beaming at him, her eyes shining. "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten since lunch and I'm starving. Can I buy you dinner? We could have something delivered since I'm not exactly dressed to go out."

His kitchen was fully stocked with protein bars and fermented fish. He even had peanut butter and bread. Walter knew he should refuse, leave her to her own devices and get back to work, but his mouth said, "Okay," without authorization.

"Do you trust me?" she asked, holding out her hand to borrow his phone again.

"Yes. Why?"

"Avery introduced me to this Indian restaurant and it's amazing. They have the best Paneer Tikka Masala I've ever tasted. Plus, they're close and they deliver. Are you okay with Indian?"

Walter honestly had no idea if he was okay with Indian. His diet was mostly basic and could be consumed mindlessly while doing other things. But he shrugged and nodded. Because Paige's tone was so eager and he could tell it made her happy to treat him.

The logical, scientific part of him was itching to get back to the numbers. But the quiet, tender part of him that fell asleep as soon as Paige married, woke up and was seducing him to soak up every second he could with this lovely, confusing, stimulating woman. The pull was too strong to resist.

After she made the call, the two of them went to sit on one of the only pieces of real furniture he had in the whole building. The unattractive, brown and rust tweed hide-a-bed squatted like a troll in one corner behind the computer towers and beside the book shelves. He'd never cared about its lack of beauty, only its functionality and durability. In fact, he rarely took note of it at all until Paige provided a striking contrast.

It was illogical to wish he could offer her a homier, more welcoming environment. In a few days, it wouldn't matter. Those types of details would be too unimportant to even be forgotten.

Tucking one ankle underneath the opposite leg and turning to fully face him, Paige said, "I know I won't be able to understand a tenth of your work, but I've been thinking a lot about it since I talked to you last."

"You have questions?" Walter was glad for the shift to a safe topic.

"Tons. For example, if you are going back to fix some mistake or other in the past, if it's really just 'rewinding' the time, what would keep you from repeating the exact same mistake you made in the first place?"

For the first time since he let her in the building, Walter felt sure-footed. Giving her his classic 'I'm-the-fifth-smartest-person-in-the-world' grin he answered, "Ralph and I came up with an excellent work around to that very issue. When we did the first experiments with the mice, we noticed they had to start from scratch and relearn mazes they'd been running for weeks. Using the technology I was developing for Megan, we downloaded their memories first. Next we fed a tiny electrode into the ear canal, similar to the comms the Scorpion team commonly uses. When we rewound the mice a second time, we sent the memories at the same time via the tech Ralph developed when he was eleven. Remember the one using sound waves? It could download the Library of Congress in 5.9 seconds? It didn't take nearly that long to download a mouse's memory. That was a 'Eureka!' moment for us when the first mouse was able to run the maze with no problem. I will simply need to rewind to a point in time when I know I was wearing a comm device and all my memories will be sent to me in seconds."

"I have to admit that's pretty impressive. But aren't you concerned about the Butterfly Effect?"

"Are you asking if I subscribe to the chaos theory that states small changes could have larger, catastrophic effects later?" Walter inquired.

"Well, I was talking about the old movie, but… yes. The idea is the same." Paige smiled at him wryly.

"I have factored that idea into my research, yes. The, uh, change I want to make… I don't believe it would alter the course of human history or anything. But just to be safe… Well, it's the primary reason I've more or less withdrawn from everyone in the last sixteen years and dedicated most of my time to my work. That way, I wouldn't be much of an influence on the Quinn-Curtis children, for instance. Or anyone else who wasn't born before the… incident occurred. See?"

Walter looked at Paige with pride, expecting the same sort of praise he got for the solution to the memory issue. But her face didn't look pleased. She appeared…sad?

"Walter? Is that any way to live, though? At best, it's a fairly joyless existence. You've missed out on so much. Are you sure hanging onto the past is worth it?"

Walter was offended. Hadn't she already guessed he was doing it all for her? "That's an illogical conclusion," he snapped, "When I go back, I can relive all that time again. Any way I choose."

"But what if it never works? Look at all those wasted opportunities. All those years. All the l-love you could have… _should_ have known," Paige's voice sounded strangely bleak.


	10. Good Time Wally

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: Okay, trying not to be whiny and needy here. It was a slow reading/review week for everyone. People have real lives. And I know the introduction of the SciFi factor to the story was a turn off to some people. And others don't like AUs at all. That's okay. Everyone's taste is individual. BUT... (I'm giving you a big _but_ there;) When writers don't feel the love it makes it incredibly hard to work on a story. Don't make me write Walter singing or spouting poetry about the value of commenting when you want more of a story. That would be tragic. You have been warned. Seriously, just let me know you're still here and wanting to know how this story ends. **

**As always, thank you to the faithful reviewers. It means the world.**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

She hadn't meant to give him a hard time.

It was no wonder he was sensitive about it. Walter obviously considered his work important enough to have dedicated the last twenty years of his life to it.

To the exclusion of almost everything and every _body_ else. That was the part she couldn't endorse.

It made her so incredibly sad.

On some level it also made her feel guilty. Walter hadn't directly admitted as much, but she'd guessed this whole project had something to do with her. With something in their past he wanted to fix. She gathered he wanted another chance with her.

What he was failing to acknowledge was the chance he had with her _now_. It was as if he couldn't see the value of the present at all.

Paige watched as he took on that sulky, stubborn look of his. The one that was so familiar, even though this was the first time she'd seen it in what felt like an eternity. Case in point.

The shutters fell and she could tell he was withdrawing.

He probably would have walked away from her to bury himself in work again if the intercom hadn't signaled the arrival of the delivery driver with their meal.

Paige started to get up to go pay for dinner, but she suddenly remembered something that stopped her.

Her purse was back at Avery's. Along with her wallet. Her debit card. Her cash. Everything. They'd been moving and cleaning all day. Avery was driving. Why would she need her purse?

Why, indeed.

Sighing heavily, she turned to Walter and admitted contritely, "I'm _such_ an idiot. I don't have any money or any way to pay. I apologize. I really didn't mean to make you spring for dinner. I just didn't think. Now I owe you big time."

"It's okay. I got it," he muttered. Without a backward glance, he left her on her own.

It was becoming obvious she needed to find a way to lighten the mood or it was going to be a very long, very uncomfortable meal. _If_ Paige could get him to eat with her at all.

A silly idea took shape when she spied a milk crate under the desk. It only had a couple of binders in it, so she removed them and laid them on the counter, then turned the crate upside-down. Next she grabbed a towel from the bath and draped it over top. She pulled a couple of cushions off the couch and set them on the floor on opposite sides of her makeshift table. For the finishing touch, she nabbed a Bunsen burner and set it in the center. It took a few minutes of hunting, but she eventually found a lighter, lit the burner and turned the flame down low.

Voila! A fancy dinnertable worthy of any great science nerd. Paige only hoped Walter would see the humor.

When he entered the room a few minutes later, he didn't even look at the table. He was trying to balance the bags of food while talking on his phone and shutting the door. His face and voice suggested he was perturbed about something.

Paige hurried over and took the bags from him. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but she couldn't help overhearing his part of the conversation anyway.

"No. She's fine. I promise. We're good…."

"Do you want me to send an Uber for you?..."

"Are you sure?..."

"Or we could come and get you. It's no trouble…"

"No. Of course. I said I don't mind…"

"I guess we'll see you in the morning. Feel better."

Keeping herself busy dividing the food, she tried to act like she hadn't heard anything. However, Paige was almost positive she knew exactly who was on the other end of that call. She also had a sneaking suspicion her daughter was trying to play matchmaker. Having smart, conniving adult children had proven to be a huge pain in the ass more than once. This was about to be one of those times.

Without commenting about the setting, Walter sat down cross-legged on the cushion opposite Paige's.

"That was Avery," he said unnecessarily. He picked up a flimsy, plastic fork and poked at a morsel in one of the Styrofoam containers. He sniffed it suspiciously before transferring the bite to his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, then shrugged and resumed eating.

"Let me guess. She had a little too much to drink and can't drive. She's crashing at a friend's place til morning. Kymber's? Natalie's? Am I close?"

Walter took a swig of bottled water. "Kymber's. So you're saying it's true that mothers have a sixth sense?" He asked facetiously, then sobered before adding, "Wait. Does this kind of thing happen frequently?"

Shaking her head, half amused, half annoyed, Paige answered, "This never happens. Avery doesn't drink. She isn't even legal until next month. Plus, she says she can't let anything interfere with school or work. As for that sixth sense? In this case it's called experience. She may not drink, but my adorable child has been known to be manipulative."

"I have to admit. This food isn't too bad," Walter said, taking a little more Tikka Masala. For the first time, he seemed to notice the décor. Frowning in confusion, he asked, "Did you light the burner to keep the food warm?"

"I was going for scientific ambiance."

He blinked, giving her a stony expression.

"It was a joke. I was just trying to lighten things up a little."

Walter nodded and they ate silently for a few minutes while they both stewed in their own thoughts.

"How?" He finally asked.

"Oh, the tubing on the burner was long enough to reach the table. I thought it would be funny. You know, like a candlelight dinner only…"

"No. I meant how is Avery manipulating you?"

Paige decided to be straight up, but she still couldn't look at him, so she concentrated on her plate and replied, "Oh, um. I'm guessing she wanted me to stay over here tonight. It's her way of saying you and I need to spend more time together."

"Why would she want that?" Walter continued the questioning.

Frustration crept into her voice because she suspected the genius was being deliberately obtuse. "Avery is clever and observant. She picked up on some… vibes and some ancient history between us that's never been addressed. She has asked me about it directly and indirectly several times."

"Mmm. Me as well," Walter murmured to himself.

Shifting nervously, he completely switched the subject. "If you don't mind my asking, why doesn't Avery have much to do with her father?"

Paige took a bite so she could pause to think about how to respond. What did she have to lose? She decided to give him the unvarnished truth again. Rattle that tree and see what fell out. Taking a sip of water, she said, "Other than the fact he lives three thousand miles away? What exactly does that say about me that my exes always end up as far away from me as possible without actually leaving the country?"

"That's not technically true. Sometimes they _do_ leave the country. Tim was in Jordan when he broke up with you the first time…"

"Yes. He was. Thanks for the reminder." Paige lobbed back sarcastically.

"…and you can't really count Drew because he wanted you and Ralph to move to Maine with him."

She spoke over him before they could rehash all of her failed relationships. "Tim and Avery did bond, at first. But he always suspected… How do I put this? He's not convinced she's his biological daughter. That has strained things between them over the years."

The look of disgusted contempt on Walter's face spoke volumes. "That's hardly Avery's fault. Caring for a child shouldn't be contingent on DNA."

Paige's gave him a melting look. Walter should know.

"He tried to insist I get a paternity test. But there was no need. There was no other possibility. I found his insistence insulting to say the least. Unfortunately, my refusal to have it done also gave him a loophole when it came to financial support. After the divorce, he paid the minimum child support until the instant she turned eighteen. In the middle of her senior year of high school, nada. Not another dime. Since then, it's pretty much been twenty bucks in a birthday card and fifty at Christmas."

Paige sat back, unable to eat any more. The subject of Tim's mistrust effectively stole her appetite. She stared out the rain-streaked window, trying to restore her balance. Tim wasn't worth a minute's thought. He belonged to the past.

"I'm sorry." Walter's compassion had her softening up until he followed with, "Who did Tim think was the father?"

Paige coughed, choking on the loaded answer to that question. She'd already made the decision to stick with facts, however. So she looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "You."

"Me?! B-but we-we, uh... You and I never... Did we?"

The hair stood up on Paige's arms and she had that same overpowering deja vu sensation she had before.

Beside them, the instrument panel lit up like a Christmas tree as several warning alarms sounded.

The two of them stared at each other, eyes locked together. Paige's mind was suddenly inundated with a torrent of images, the intense accompanying emotions nearly overwhelming her.

Dim, blue lighting. A discussion about the physics of love. A slow dance to a song that shouldn't have been romantic but was. A soft, tentative kiss, just a brushing of lips quickly morphing into a passionate embrace. A wild, frantic, seemingly unstoppable joining of bodies. A sweet kind of relief.

Without breaking eye contact, Walter methodically turned the burner between them off. He shoved the crate out of his way, then prowling toward her, he seized Paige by the upper arms and claimed her mouth in a fierce kiss.


	11. About Damn Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for the reviews. You're the best! They really do keep me motivated.**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

It had been such a long time since someone so plainly desired her.

In and of itself, that factor was potent and arousing, but when coupled with the onslaught of powerful feelings and the sweetness of their earlier kiss, Paige didn't stand a chance. Her defenses crumbled before his tongue swept into her mouth. Before he groaned her name into her neck. Before he pushed her back against the cushion on the floor. Before he made good use of the zipper on that hoodie.

A small, sane voice in her mind kept telling her to slow down. That it wasn't a good idea to rush the physical. Not when they had just found each other again. Not when they were just barely getting to know each another again.

But a louder, less rational voice kept crying for more, yelling inside her fevered brain it had already been too long. They'd already wasted too much time. This might be her very last opportunity.

Neither the quiet voice of reason nor the lusty voice of passion won the debate. It was her back, reminding Paige she was no longer in her thirties. Having spontaneous, hot sex on the unforgiving, hard floor wasn't feasible anymore.

Damn it.

"Walter," she whispered against his ear.

He responded by grinding against her. She nearly went cross-eyed it felt so amazing. Unfortunately, it also caused another painful twinge in her lower back.

Paige pushed lightly at his shoulders and said a little more firmly, "Walter."

Walter grunted his disapproval and pulled back slightly, looking down into her face. He was a little dazed. A little flushed. His lips a little kiss-reddened. And he was _a lot_ sexy. How could she do this gently without calling a halt to the whole thing?

Giving him what she hoped was an inviting smile, Paige asked, "Is there anyway we could move this to the couch?"

His dark, smoldering eyes suddenly widened and he scrambled off of her. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were, um, uncomfortable."

She rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm okay. I think I might be a touch too... _mature_ to get busy on a tile floor." Walter looked so upset and guilty, she rushed to add, "I'm fine. I promise. I'm not broken." She tried to retain a little dignity when she noticed the borrowed shirt gaping to her navel. She hastily made sure every... part was safely tucked inside and haphazardly zipped it half way up.

Paige stood and held out her hand. "Come on. Help me fold out the bed."

Walter's gaze kept dropping to her cleavage as he nodded his agreement. She decided to take it as a good sign.

She led him over to the hide-a-bed and they both worked silently to get it ready. Paige removed the remaining seat cushion, Walter tugged the bed out from the frame, she smoothed the covers, he grabbed a pillow from one of the cupboards.

Feeling ridiculously shy now that there was some space between them, Paige fussed with the precise positioning of the quilt over the mattress. She heard more than saw Walter shuffle around the perimeter of the bed. When she caught sight of his advancing shoes in her peripheral vision, she looked up.

Their eyes met. Then their lips. Then their hands got involved. Then their clothes were systematically discarded. And finally, _finally_ they found each other. Connected on the most primal level. It was a tiny bit awkward. Walter was inexperienced. Paige was self-conscious and more than a little rusty. But in the end they figured it out and, they were absolutely glorious together.

Paige drifted off feeling safe and satisfied and comfortably at home in the arms of a man she'd wanted both forever ago and for the rest of always. Gone were the foolish fears of her younger self. The fate of companies no longer mattered. She no longer felt the need to be concerned her kids would be negatively affected. She no longer cared how different the two of them were. As long as they were together, the rest of it would work itself out. All they needed to do was let go of the past and enjoy each other, holding on fast to the time they had left and enjoying every instant.

oxoxoxoxoxo

Walter lay awake thinking.

The way he saw things, it was more imperative than ever he complete his work. He simply couldn't give up so many years he could've been at Paige's side. Having nights like this one. Now that he'd experienced it, he'd never be able to reconcile all the ones he'd missed.

He would make better choices next time knowing exactly what he was missing, knowing how marvelous it could be. This was just the interlude he needed to spur him forward. In order to go back. He chuckled aloud briefly, but stopped himself abruptly. Best not to wake Paige.

Feeling energized and newly resolved, Walter carefully extricated himself from Paige's embrace. He hated to give up holding her, but he promised himself many more identical occasions as he gazed at her tousled hair and lovely face relaxed in slumber. He was motivated to work twice as hard in order to have twice the years to enjoy seeing her in the grip of rapture or with that same post-coital satisfied look she wore so beautifully.

No time to lose.

Walter almost sprinted to his desk. He must check those strange readings again.

oxoxoxoxoxo

The pale gold and pink of the early morning sunlight poured through the window and streaked across the sheets coaxing Paige from sleep. She smelled coffee. Oh, she must be in heaven.

On second thought… that bar in the middle of the hide-a-bed didn't feel very heavenly. Walter was going to have to consider getting a real bed. Sooner rather than later.

As she stretched the kinks out, Paige felt residual soreness in some… unusual areas. Well, it had been a while.

She needed to find Walter. No, first she needed to find the source of the coffee smell then find Walter. No, what she actually needed first was a bathroom, then coffee, then Walter. In that order.

Satisfied in more ways than one, Paige strolled toward the bathroom. Her mind was occupied making plans for commuting back and forth to see each other. Would they take it in turns? Or she considered asking her boss if she could start that four-day-a-week work schedule they'd discussed previously. If she did that, it would make more sense for her to come to Walter's lab most often.

Paige went through her morning ablutions the best she could without any of her beauty aids or even her own toothbrush. Her hair was a haystack even after she combed it using the best of Walter's implements, but she was too happy to care. It felt like every ending, every disappointment in her life led to this brand new beginning.

The clothes she laid out in the bathtub were still clammy and damp. No way was she putting those things back on. She nearly borrowed another shirt, but changed her mind. She smirked as she remembered how the easy access of the one she was wearing had served her quite well the night before.

Paige found the coffee in short order and fixed herself a cup. When she couldn't find Walter right away, she decided to explore a little. There was a door standing open a few steps down the hall. He was sitting at a bank of monitors with his back to her. She crept up from behind and slid her arms around him, touching her lips softly to his neck and smiling as she felt the shiver she'd caused.

"Good morning," She all but purred. "How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"

Paige sank into the chair beside his and eyed him with expectancy.

He smiled broadly back at her. "I didn't sleep at all. But to answer your other query, I'm feeling fine. Great, in fact. I've never felt as motivated to complete this project. What we did? That was just the catalyst I needed. I've had a breakthrough. I think I can rewind all of this as early as next week!"

Walter clearly expected her to share his excitement, but her face fell as the happy little bubble she'd been floating in since he kissed her, popped all of the sudden.

Oblivious to her change in mood, he continued gushing, "I spent hours studying the anomaly in the data and came up with a working theory. I was able to discern the numbers increased exponentially when we were sharing a memory of the same event at the same precise moment. Odd, but it's also a time when I seem to have two divergent memories of the same evening... One was more dreamlike, though, so I guess dreaming is a possibility..." He shrugged off the distraction and kept going, "It was the last time we were alone in the same room and in perfect harmony. _That_ is the target zone. The one I need to aim for. Of course, I will have to go back to a few hours before, to when I was wearing a comm that day, for it to work correctly, but that shouldn't be an issue. I certainly don't mind reliving the entire day if it's needed. That's a small sacrifice to make, believe me. I finished working out the whole equation about an hour ago and I've been inputting the numbers since. It's all coming together at last…"

"What moment?" Paige interjected stiffly. The smell of the coffee was now more nauseating than appealing, so she set the mug down on the desk and pushed it away.

"Hmm?" Walter asked, still distracted by his caffeine and success-fueled elation.

" _The_ moment. The last moment we were in the same room in perfect harmony. Which one are you talking about?"

Starting to pick up on her tone, he answered cautiously, "Oh, um, the knee bone song. Remember? Uh, when we were dancing to it in the garage." He cleared his throat.

Paige nodded solemnly. "Yes, Walter. I remember. I also remember a much more recent time when we were in the same room and perfectly in harmony. Or at least _I_ thought we were."

He frowned but didn't say anything. His confusion was evident.

"Last night? Or was I kidding myself about how good it was to be together?"

"No. It-it was good to be with you. Of course it was," he said, genuinely perplexed by the resentfulness in her tone. "I fail to see…"

"Yes, you do fail to see. Why can't you let go of the past? Be with me _now_? We could build a good life together from this point forward!" Paige hated the pleading sound of the words.

There was that stubborn look again. In this context, she couldn't tolerate it.

"Why would you want to settle for the little we have left _now_ when we could have so much more? We could reclaim all that lost time and be together _twice_ as long or longer. Don't you want that?" Walter argued, incredulous in the face of her objections.

Paige bit her lip and blinked rapidly to fight back the tears. "What if it doesn't work? What then? What if messing with the timeline completely ruins everything? What if we never find each other? What if you get hurt, or killed or brain-damaged in the process? So much could go wrong. Why would you want to gamble with a sure shot at happiness? Why would you want to throw it away? We could be together _now_ , Walter. Why isn't that enough for you?"

"It would render the last twenty years of my life meaningless! And everything I've discovered a waste! How can you ask me to throw away all that work? All that time? All the sacrifice? That's asinine! I did it all and was glad to do it because I was in love with you! Okay? Can't you see how significant that is to me? I can't allow the opportunity to rewrite my mistakes to pass me by. No matter the odds!" Walter was almost shouting.

They stared at one another.

"You _were_ in love with me? Then, but not now?" Paige rasped, her throat raw and clogged with unshed tears.

Looking lost, he made no reply.

She nodded. Trying not to be crushed by his silence, she managed, "Well, Walter, I wish you luck. Just think about something for me. If you can't stop yourself for my sake, think of my kids. What if you are lost to Ralph forever? What about Avery?"

He rolled his eyes. "If I'm successful, they won't know anything is different."

Standing and turning her back to him so he couldn't see the scalding tears welling, she said, "I see. But what if you _aren't_ successful? What then?"

With those parting words, she walked out the door with her head up refusing to break down until she was out of earshot. Paige would spend the rest of the morning sitting on her daughter's doorstep waiting for her to get home. She would be _damned_ if she spent another second in that lab. Or in the company of Walter O'Brien.

 **AN: Don't hurt me? I won't be able to make it all better if you do.**


	12. Crunch Time

**BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME**

 **AN: I'm SO enjoying all the comments, theories and reviews. Some of them make me laugh. All of them make my day.**

 **In this chapter I finally bring Walter to the point I where I wanted him when I first started this story. Next stop, resolution. I promise. My OCD really didn't want 13 chapters, but sometimes stories have minds of their own. Maybe I'll do an epilogue to make it an nice even 14?**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

There was no time to lose.

And no time to dwell on the argument he had with Paige after… was it just yesterday? No, it might be a week or more ago now. Only days on a calendar. The timing was irrelevant.

Walter couldn't let it matter.

Besides, Paige was _wrong_. Why couldn't she see that? He would simply have to erase the whole disagreement by going back. That would be the end of it. The whole thing would cease to exist.

Luckily all the students were out for winter break. All was quiet on the campus. The fewer distractions, the better.

The dean of the college of mathematics kept pestering him for final grades. He'd been so involved in the rewinding project, he couldn't be bothered with anything as mundane as grading papers or replying to any of the myriad messages the dean sent, much less sleeping or eating.

Walter rubbed at his gritty eyes. He couldn't afford to stop now. The coding must be done precisely down to each nanosecond.

He didn't remember letting Ralph in. Walter only knew he looked up and the younger genius was suddenly standing at his elbow. How long he'd been there was anyone's guess.

Uh, oh. Was Ralph aware of Walter's fight with his mother? Was he there for a confrontation?

Walter swayed dizzily in his seat. The reason for this visit wouldn't make any difference when he rewound the time.

"Hey," Ralph said, his voice sounding pitying rather than angry, "How long have you been at this?"

"Since… That's not… It's im-immaterial. I'm nearly... there," Walter slurred out of uncooperative lips.

"What's left of you is nearly there. The part of you that isn't down the rabbit hole, you mean. You need to eat. Then you need to sleep. After that, you really need a shower and a change of clothes." Ralph wrinkled his nose. "C'mon. Can you stand?"

"I'm not… not… what you said. Before." Walter felt like his mind was floating outside his body. He was aware his words were barely coherent, but was incapable of forcing them to make sense.

He didn't want to quit. Somehow he was stumbling and staggering over to the couch anyway, leaning heavily on the younger man, reeling like a drunk.

Ralph handed him a covered plate of food, but his hands were too stupid to hold it, so the boy who was no longer a boy held it for him. Still _his_ boy, though.

Walter's uncoordinated efforts dribbled food down his chin and the front of his shirt as he struggled to keep his eyes open long enough to chew and swallow.

Ralph held a straw to his mouth.

Walter sipped some water. He'd had nothing but coffee for days. The clean moisture felt so welcome to his dry throat, he began to guzzle, causing him to choke and sputter.

He felt himself begin to list sideways, eyes drifting closed. "Can't quit. Too important," he argued as Ralph wiped his mouth and chin with a napkin.

"It'll still be important when you wake up."

"Thank you," Walter croaked, "Always loved you like a son…"

"Merry Christmas, Dad," Ralph's voice answered from somewhere far, far away.

As he fought the blackness beginning to engulf him, he noticed his pillow still smelled like Paige. It helped him finally surrender to sleep.

oxoxoxoxoxo

Walter woke with a jerk, his stiff muscles protesting when he stretched.

Wiping a hand down his bristly face, he rolled to his side and attempted to sit up. His stomach pitched and the room wheeled around in circles for a few seconds until his equilibrium was reestablished.

How long was he out? Did he dream Ralph was there?

No sign of the plate of food. However, there was the glass of water on the floor beside the couch.

He reached for it and took several long swigs. It tasted warm, dusty and stale, but Walter didn't care. He was parched.

The genius rose unsteadily to his feet, stripping off his shirt as he headed for the bathroom.

After a bracing shower and a protein shake, Walter was starting to emerge from the grogginess. He felt life returning and with it a sense of embarrassment. No one had seen him in such a state since Happy helped him all those years ago.

Poking around his workstation, he found a neat stack of papers where he'd previously left chaos. Concluding Ralph must have stuck around for a while and straightened up, Walter scanned the note on the top. It left him even more humbled.

Apparently Ralph hacked into his computer. Avery finished grading the finals and sent the semester grades to the dean on his behalf.

The younger man had also verified and completed Walter's work on the time rewind project. The corrections were in Ralph's unmistakable handwriting. After booting up the computer, Walter also discovered the data was perfectly coded. The program was complete.

On a whim, he scanned his detailed journal of every phase of the project and sent the whole thing to Ralph using the shared data file they set up eons ago for projects and messages exclusively meant for one another. He backed it all up to their cloud server on the off chance Paige was right and it all went sideways.

Heart thundering, Walter realized there was only one thing left for him to do now.

Go back and begin again.

oxoxoxoxoxo

The truth hit him like a sledgehammer when a newly rewound Walter stood with the team, still shaky and disoriented from speeding back in time and the lightening-quick data dump of all his memories.

Walter didn't even have time to congratulate himself on the success of his venture. Instead he was agonizing with indecision.

Like a distant echo, he vaguely registered Sylvester's voice as the newly appointed alderman negotiated with the Hechnyan General regarding a mutually beneficial resolution.

Three words were loud and clear, however, resounding over and over and over in his head.

"What about Avery?"

His eyes shifted to Paige who smiled back benignly.

Walter sincerely believed he'd thought of everything. He'd spent years as a veritable hermit so as not to influence anyone in any meaningful way.

He was horrified to discover he'd forgotten one essential detail.

Avery.

When he'd started his research, he didn't know about her.

Astounded by his idiocy, he kept hearing his older self promising Paige no harm would come to her children.

Now, if he told the woman he'd loved for decades he remembered what happened when he was in space, if he confessed his feelings for her, which was the whole purpose of the mission, Avery might never exist.

Sure, Walter would be the only one to ever know.

But living with that knowledge was another story.

Walter would be the only one in the world to remember her kooky moods and her quirky fashion sense. Her kindness, her intelligence, her unique way of making the most boring tasks fun, her ability to see something worthy in a grouchy old bachelor genius and befriend him in spite of his efforts to rebuff her. All of that would be lost forever. _She_ would be lost forever because of his selfish desire to rewrite the past.

It was unacceptable. It was intolerable. It was insupportable.

It was impossible. He couldn't do it.

The whole flight home, Walter puzzled and brooded and probed every possible angle. In the end, he concluded there was only one way this could go.

He must live over again every excruciating moment. Every last detail must be identical. He would have to act like he'd just remembered space. He would have to pretend to be furious. He would have to fire Paige. He would have to say goodbye.

All over again.

At least he still had tonight. Tonight he would hold her. Tonight they would dance for the last time. One more time.


	13. Time Heals All Wounds

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME

 **AN: Happy Scorpion Monday to all! I want to thank everyone who has stayed with me til the end. And I especially want to thank everyone for the comments and reviews.**

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." – Thomas Edison

 **oxoxoxoxoxo**

This certainly wasn't the first time Paige had proven him wrong. Somehow, someway, he was going to make damn sure it didn't take the whole of twenty-one years to tell her so. Walter would need to be extra careful. Everything was so tenuous. What a time to realize he should've stayed in the future with her. In this case, _foresight_ was 20/20.

Everyone on the team was tired from the long flight, but when they returned to the garage, they were all still riding the high of a successful mission. One or two members tried to engage him in conversation, but he wasn't in the mood to discuss Toby and Happy's impending wedding, Cabe's digestive issues or any of the other ordinary subjects occupying their minds.

Instead, Walter trudged slowly toward his work station attempting to remember all the minutiae of his upcoming interaction with Paige.

She was already seated at her desk filling out forms when he plopped down in his chair. His finger was hovering over the 'play' button on the answering machine, when she looked up at him, grinning flirtatiously.

Taking a quick look around, she whispered, "Is everyone gone? Are we alone?"

What?

Paige was off script. She was supposed to hear the message from the dance instructor and tell him pre-marital lectures were a mistake. What was he going to do now?

Bewildered, he decided to stay with the exact words he said the last time, noticing as they came out they didn't make a lot of sense in this context.

Expecting her to toss her pen down and tell him scheduling a dance lesson for Happy and Toby was 'actually sweet', his lips parted and his eyes grew round when she laughed, stood and strolled toward him instead.

Perching on the corner of his desk and wearing a knowing smile on her face, Paige inquired, "That is you, right? You made it back?"

Should he bring up Schrodinger now?

She flashed him a worried frown and leaned toward him, brushing her fingers through the hair over his ear. Then she bent closer and squinted into his face, giving him a thorough once-over. "Are you okay? Maybe you didn't make it back with all your memories intact? I thought I saw you catch up with yourself in Hechnya, but I couldn't say anything with everyone else standing there. You were really quiet on the flight back. I just assumed you were still feeling woozy from the rewind. The process knocks you back pretty good and Ralph told me the second time would probably be worse for side effects."

"Wh-what?" Walter croaked. "I don't understand. Did you come back too?"

"And there's that 197 IQ kicking in! Of course I came back. I wasn't about to let you come back by yourself. I couldn't let you mess this up _yet again_." Paige shook her head, "You'd be making wrong assumptions and stumbling over words... I'm here to help you. Together you and I are going to set everything right."

A keen sense of peace flowed through him. Paige was here to help him. Of course she would do that. Walter was so glad to have her there, he couldn't even be too upset she'd put herself at risk for his benefit.

But his brain wouldn't stop with the relentless litany of questions. There were so many and they were so jumbled up, he struggled with which to ask first.

"Take your time," she raised her eyebrow and smirked. "We have lots of it now."

"You were so mad at me," Walter blurted.

"Mad is one way to describe the way I felt. Furious, livid, enraged. Yep. All those too. But under that, I was mostly hurt. It felt like you were rejecting me. Again."

He interrupted, "No! It-it's not that I didn't want to be with you then. Quite the opposite, in fact. I wanted to fix my mistakes. Take back the hurt I caused you. Make things better. Be together both then _and_ now. I-I love you. No matter when."

Paige nodded, "I know. Ralph helped me understand and see your perspective a little better. Your journal travelled back with you. You were so out of it when you sent it to Ralph, you forgot the rewinding program was still open on your computer at the same time. So he got the whole download way back here. He let me read it. Well, the parts I could actually understand anyway. Beneath all those facts and equations and your egotistic inability to accept when you're wrong and deal with the consequences in real time, you kept repeating time and time again your true feelings about me. About us. I still don't necessarily agree with your decision. I still believe we could've had a good life together from that point forward. But I also understand how disappointed you were in yourself and how hurt you were. I saw clearly all the mistakes I made as well. The things I should've said and didn't. The things I did say to you and came to regret. The responsibility for the mess isn't all yours. So here I am. I have quite a bit to make up for myself."

"But how? How did you…?"

Paige reached over and picked up his hand, toying with his fingers and tracing a pattern on his palm. It gave him a pleasant, shivery sensation. She twined their fingers together.

"Ralph again. He helped me. He knew what you were determined to do and he explained it to me. He knows the program as well as you do. I convinced him to help me go back too. I think we both owe it to him not to screw it up this time around."

" _When_? I think I would have noticed one of the pods in use."

"Well, _when_ is a little fluid these days, isn't it?" She teased, "It was while you were so out of it on Christmas Day."

"You were there?" Walter cringed at the thought of Paige seeing him in that condition.

"Yes. A bomb could've exploded and you wouldn't have stirred. You needed me. And…I love you. I pretty much always have."

Their eyes met and held. A wave of emotion washed over him and in that instant love made perfect sense to him.

"Do you think it's necessary to dance to the knee bone song now?" He murmured the question tentatively, feeling unexpectedly diffident.

She shrugged, but her eyes were warm, giving him a tender look. "Sure. I'm game. It's one of my favorite memories of today."

Paige pivoted to face him as Walter stood on wobbly knees and reached for his tablet. He extended his hand as the music started. She took the offered hand and met him halfway as the slow, jazzy music floated around them. They both chuckled a little at the absurd lyrics.

The blue glow from the electronics gave the room a surreal, underwater atmosphere. Swaying and turning in slow circles, the two of them held onto each other more tightly than before. Walter began to feel disoriented like he was in flux between realities. Paige seemed like the only constant in his life, his only anchor in a sea of muddled thoughts and mixed up memories. Pulling her closer, he inhaled her familiar scent.

And it jolted him rudely back to reality. He abruptly stopped dancing and stepped back, looking horrified, his posture rigid.

"We can't do this. We have to stop. You-you need to go," Walter stated emphatically.

"What is it? What's the matter?" Paige reached for him, but he stepped further away.

"What about Avery?!" He exclaimed as if the question was torn from him.

He was shocked when Paige just smiled sympathetically. "Didn't I tell you? This is my first time back, but it's actually your second go. This is your third time to relive this moment, because you keep choosing to return to this point. Your first rewind, you hadn't figured out the memory issue yet, but you must have retained some sense of your purpose or else you were confused enough by the duel timelines, you apparently made quite the move on me. I have two divergent memories for this night too."

The pieces gradually falling into place, Walter stared at Paige and breathed, " _That's_ the reason for the number fluctuation when one or both of us experienced a memory of this night. Not only did I return here originally, but we made some sort of significant alteration, didn't we?"

Stepping into his personal space and taking his slack hands in hers, she replied, "Oh, you bet we did. What do you say we skip the rest of this dance and go make our daughter now?"

FIN

 **This is dedicated to the all the other crazy, Waige-obsessed ladies on the forum who reeeeaaaally wanted Rock Block to end a different way. This one's for you!**


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